A/N: Thanks to kelleyj17 for her beta, and Happy New Year to you all!

Cloud was standing on another mountainside with that strange woman, again. He really wasn't in the mood to see Minerva again, not after Tifa nearly caved in the stone wall of the house with that punch of hers. He felt especially annoyed at this so-called goddess for dragging Tifa into this. "What do you want now?"

"The Calamity is slow right now, but in time it will grow stronger. I am glad your group is finally moving along."

Cloud seethed as he crossed his arms over his chest, and he glowered at Minerva. "Tifa is pregnant! How dare you bring her into this mess!"

Minerva made a dismissive movement with her hand. "You can make more babies. There is only one planet."

The blond warrior leveled his glare at Minerva. "Excuse me?"

"The Planet must survive."

"Then you can take care of it!"

"It is not that simple."

He huffed, then began pacing. The goddess watched him patiently before continuing. "The lives of a few will always be sacrificed for the many. It is the same as when the Cetra sealed away the Calamity the first time."

"You're nothing more than a child that never thinks things through." Cloud ran a hand through his spiky hair before tucking it between his other arm and chest. "Even after five hundred years."

She continued to study him as he stopped pacing and faced her. "A little recognition would be nice, y'know. The people we've lost..." Cloud looked down. "Aerith died trying to save the Planet. We risked our lives to stop Sephiroth. I wouldn't have minded just living my life as a courier, but you cut it short, and now you wanna use me." His eyes came up to hers, which were holding a thoughtful look. "At this point I wouldn't be surprised if your little spell was only one way."

"Aerith..." Minerva turned away and walked a few paces from Cloud. "The last Cetra. She died too soon in this timeline."

"You don't say." Cloud attempted to kick a pebble off of the ledge he was on, but his foot went through it. He tsked. "A goddess too weak to fight her own battles, but strong enough to drag people through time. If you wanna bother me again, make sure you have some useful information for me."

"Hm." Minerva turned back and nodded as Cloud watched her from behind his shoulder. "The next we meet, I will have more for you."

"More what?" Cloud didn't quite like how she said that. "What are you planning?"

"I only wish to save the Planet. But I think I can help a little more again."

"I think he's finally waking up."

A long and deep groan passed his lips, and a sharp pain shot through his head. He squeezed his still-closed eyes as he sucked in a breath. The surface he was laying on was hard and the sun was beating down on his face periodically, and he could hear the squeak and rumble of what sounded like wheels as he jiggled a little from movement.

Something cool patted his cheek. "Elder...Cloud? Cloud, are you awake?"

He very slowly opened his eyes, and a fuzzy face began to come into focus. Cloud let out a grunt, then he sniffled before rubbing his bleary eyes. "Dilys?"

"Yes! How are you feeling?"

He blinked slowly as his head pounded away. "Like shit."

"Oh." Dilys looked unsure how to proceed with the conversation for a few moments, then took in a deep breath as she sat by him. "We're traveling through the outskirts of the Midgar Forest right now. It should be a while before we get anywhere near Junon."

"I see...Thanks." Very slowly, Cloud began to sit up. He gently touched his tender forehead and winced as his fingers touched the welt Tifa gave him outside of the house. He supposed he earned it, but could Tifa blame him for his concern?

He noticed she was sitting on the edge of the wagon, her back to him. She was completely ignoring him. So, he thought, she would blame him. He wasn't sorry for trying to keep her safe against her wishes, either.

His head continued to have a dull ache, but he decided to take stock of his environment. Dilys was watching him with worry in her eyes, Vincent was surprisingly the cart driver with Corent next to him, and he noticed both Nanakis and the cubs trotting behind the cart without breaking a sweat. It wasn't going particularly fast, but faster than they would be without it.

He noticed Yuffie was talking to Vesta and the cubs about something, and he pursed his lips as he noticed her footwork. Of course she would start teaching them how to keep their footfalls quiet. She had taught Denzel and Marlene the very same thing, why not his other descendants? Cloud let out a tired sigh before scooting to the edge of the wagon and dangling his feet off of it, just like Tifa.

She tensed as he settled next to her, and Cloud couldn't help but eye her belly, despite being covered in Aruni's traditional clothing. Tifa noticed, then shifted to where he couldn't see any of her front. He tensed his jaw and looked at the scenery instead.

They were on a dirt path that could barely be considered a road, grass growing shortly in between two packed earth trails on the ground. The grass beyond the path was long and had dragonflies darting around the tips as they hunted. On either side beyond the grass were trees, thick and tall with a canopy that didn't quite block out the sun over their position.

The air was growing warmer, and humid.

"Hey, Spike. Have a good nap?" Yuffie was bringing Vesta into the wagon.

He grunted an answer, not wanting to speak. His cheeks burned.

"That's good, I was hopin' Tifa's haymaker or whatever kinda punch it was didn't rattle your brain too much."

Cloud sneered at her, then looked away. He didn't want his botched plan rubbed into his face. His ego was as bruised as his forehead. Yuffie cackled a little, then began talking about something inane to young Nanaki. Cloud let out a short little huff and stewed over Minerva to get his mind off of the possibility that he had ruined his relationship with Tifa, not that he wasn't good at screwing up or anything.

Minerva would drag whoever needed to be dragged into this mess with no regards to their futures, as long as it meant this future continued on. He knew that the Planet operated in such a way that an individual life would be meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but Cloud would love for a bone to be thrown his way, or maybe some reward for going through the trouble. On second thought, he reasoned, a reward from the Planet could be a very double edged sword. It didn't think like a mortal being did.

Obviously saving it once meant nothing to it anyway, except as potential to help it again. Minerva said she was sorry? He doubted it was anything more than politeness. How could she be truly sorry for anything? Cloud took a quick peek at Tifa again. She was talking to Dilys and pointing at her fist.

"Cloud?"

He turned his head the other way, where Vesta was looking at him with a curious gaze. He did his best to smile at her, then picked her up and placed her on his lap to watch the path slowly disappear behind the bend. "First time out of Aruni?"

Vesta nodded. "Well, I got to see your burial mound, but that's as far as I've gone."

"Oh." The thought of it still creeped him out. "I guess you'll get to see a lot more than that, now."

"Yeah. I'm really glad I'll get to see the world, Cloud." She moved her head to look up at him as he looked down. "I know you're scared, but Elder...Tifa, said we can handle anything that comes our way."

He slowly blinked as he pursed his lips, then sighed. "Right."

Cloud took in another good look at her, then stared back into the forest as his mind went a mile a minute. His ears caught the murmurs of both Nanaki's talking, and he tuned into it as he closed his eyes.

"It was foolish to bring the little girl with us," Elder Nanaki grumbled. "The cubs already enjoy her company."

Young Nanaki tilted his head in his older self's direction. "So? It's good for them. They won't look down their noses at humans like I...uh, we did."

"They will know loss too soon. She will be elderly when they are adolescents."

Young Nanaki tightened his jaw and let out a huff. "I know. I said I would deal with it when the time comes."

"There is nothing like that loss. These cubs will travel with Vesta, just like we traveled with them." Elder Nanaki pointed his nose towards Cloud and Tifa, the former holding Vesta with his eyes closed and the latter showing Dilys how she threw a punch. Both Nanakis could tell she was still angry by her posture, but as always she masked it with a smile. The cubs were trying to chase the cart while still staying relatively near their grandfathers.

Young Nanaki looked at his friends, then at his older self with a suspicious stare. "So you regret ever meeting them. Is that it?"

"No, that's not what I—"

"I am Nanaki, son of Seto. I will not be afraid of loss." Young Nanaki closed his eye as he drew in a breath through his nose, then opened his eye again. "To grow so wary of new friendships..."

"Live it," Elder Nanaki suggested sharply. "I never...I never once regretted knowing them."

"Did you regret letting them be a part of your family?"

Elder Nanaki winced at the accusation. A part of him did regret it, and it stabbed him in the chest to admit it, even only in his thoughts. It was so cowardly, he knew. But the weight of centuries and the emptiness left behind from people he wished could be there with him clawed at his heart every time he met with Vincent, everytime something would remind him of them.

"Gawd, Red." Elder Nanaki let out a surprised yelp as Yuffie sneaked up on him. She was giving him a judgemental glare, having obviously eavesdropped on their conversation. "You regret me, the White Rose of Wutai?"

"N-no! I don't think you understand the complexity of the situation, Yuffie." He furrowed his brow and looked between Yuffie and Young Nanaki.

She rolled her eyes, then flicked his ear. It wasn't as hard as he remembered in days past, more like a swat at a bad cub's behind in smartness. Still, he winced. "I know you live way too freaking long. But you keep forgetting something really important."

"And what's that?"

"That we'll meet someday again. Y'know, you live in Cosmo Canyon. You should know that we'll be together again, all of us. Maybe even Vinny, when he gets bored with watching the world pass him by." Her scornful face turned into a meaningful smile.

Young Nanaki nodded. "We'll meet again, in our Promised Land."

Elder Nanaki looked away. It was such a long time to be reunited. But, wasn't he reunited right now? Maybe not with everyone, but it was still a precious thing in his older years. To see and smell them again was a great joy to him. "Our Promised Land..."

"Well, if we kill Jenova for the last freakin' time," Yuffie drawled out. "If we don't then maybe she'll eat our souls or whatever it is she's supposed to do."

"We got her and Sephiroth once, just Jenova should be nothing to us," Young Nanaki replied with a haughty tone and a grin. "And then we'll save our future from short-sightedness that plagues the Planet just as much as it does humans."

Elder Nanaki said nothing back, but he pondered their discussion. He could admit he forgot about that, about their fated reunion someday in the Lifestream. After so long, why wouldn't the promise fade in his long memories? He looked their way, watching as Yuffie sat her rump upon his younger self with that air of royal pomp her descendants kept, then looked at Cloud and Tifa's descendants and how even they kept some ancient qualities of their ancestors. They always met again in some way, but someday it would be spirit to spirit. That, he would try and remember from now on.

"Daddy!"

Barret wrapped a big arm around Marlene and scooped her up. "Hey, Marlene!" He put her down after a few moments, then put his good hand on Denzel's shoulder. "Hey, Denzel. You doin' a good job, keepin' Marlene safe last night."

Denzel nodded at the praise, then moved some of his wavy brown hair out of his eyes. "Did you hear anything back?"

Barret's expression became glum. "Naw. Vincent's on his way here, and Cid said he'd show up too."

"We should go looking for them!" Marlene said. "They could be hurt!"

"I'm gonna stay here with you two, baby girl. But don't worry, Cait Sith is lookin' around Edge for 'em right now."

"Oh. He's gonna check the church first, right?" Denzel knew that was a place Cloud liked to visit.

Barret gave a firm nod. "Yeh, that's the first place he's gonna look at."

"What if they're not there?" Marlene asked.

"I dunno. We'll think of somethin'." The large man looked about the bar, then pointed at the stove. "You guys hungry? I'm gonna make us some pancakes, alright?"

Marlene bounced. "I'll help!"

"Yeah, me too," Denzel said. Anything to keep away the nagging doubt in his head that wouldn't go away. No matter how much he focused on making breakfast with the other two, it wouldn't quite go away. But now their family friends were coming to search, and for better or worse they would hopefully get answers.