Disclaimer:

We all know I don't own anything from FF7 or square-enix/soft. No characters. No locations. No vehicles. No Chocobo. All I own is myself, and I'm not even sure about that one.

Oh well, at least this story's mine. See, I can see the silver lining to every Cloud... :-p

Sorry, couldn't help that one :-p

Don't upset the Lifestream... I want to share the fun too! Wait for meeeeeeeeeee!

Part 1: Friends

What? Denzel looked at Marlene. Who was she talking to? He glanced around the room; there was no one here, only them holding hands and watching the rain fall.

"Marlene?"

"Shhh! I'm trying to listen! Can't you hear?"

His brow creased; what the…? He listened, but could not hear anything beyond the soft sound of raindrop crashing against the windowpanes.

"Marlene…?" The smaller girl did not answer him, concentrated on listening to something that only she could hear. What was wrong with her? She was not falling sick too, was she? He watched her worriedly for a moment, until they heard the door close downstairs.

It was dark inside the bar; Tifa came in last and closed the door, leaning heavily against it. The others scattered around the room: Yuffie perched on the counter, Cid and Barrett sat tiredly in a corner of the room, Nanaki padded to another with Cait Sith beside him. Typically, Vincent had chosen the darkest corner he could find and rested against the whitewashed wall. The silence reigned inside, cloying, suffocating. None would meet the others' eyes.

Cloud was gone.

They had searched the area, from the ruined building to the smouldering debris around it, but nothing had been found. Tifa's eyes burned, but tears would not fall. They had found nothing, which meant nothing at all. He could have fallen somewhere, maybe waking up this very instant; after all, he had survived such falls in the past. She still hoped.

"Tifa! Papa! You're back!" A pink and white blur thundered down the stairs and cannonballed into her father, her slim arms clinging to him. The big man hugged her gently back. Denzel came after her hesitantly, intimidated by the strange people assembled in the room. Then, he saw Tifa and rushed to her, stopping some steps from her. Tifa leaned down and he timidly hugged her. They were back, but…

"Tifa?" His big blue eyes searched her face, asking her the question she dreaded most. Where is Cloud?

Tifa cupped his face in her hands. "Cloud... will come back... later."

"When? He's coming home, he promised he would!" She could feel his little body tight with tension: anger, fear, pain. He idolized Cloud. She could understand all so well how he was feeling. One more promise broken...

"I don't know, Denzel. I'm sorry. We will look for him..." Her voice was so gentle, Denzel could feel the pit of his stomach fall as his shoulders sagged. What had happened? Where was he? Her voice reminded him of that of the man who had led him away as Sector Seven had fallen, burying his parents alive. ...We have to go, kiddo. We'll look for your parents later... Tears filled his eyes.

"Tifa! I know where Cloud will be!" All eyes turned to the little girl, seated in Barrett's lap. "She told me that he would come at her place…!"

"Who?" Her father, as usual, didn't seem to understand.

"The flower girl, of course! You've not forgotten her, have you, Papa?"

The last time she had seen the pretty girl, it had been two years ago. Marlene was six, going on seven this year. Two years was a long time for someone her age, but she had not forgotten her. Sure, she couldn't quite remember her face sometimes, but she would never forget her kindness. She was sure she was as beautiful as her voice, which had guided her in that scary forest.

"Her church."

Yuffie bounced off the counter. "What, you mean there? It's way away from the explosion, Vincent!"

"Distance matters not." The ex-Turk's cryptic remark did nothing to enlighten the teen, but it made sense to Tifa. This was where he had fallen that day they had raided the reactor. This was her place, the place she had cared for and loved for a long time, where she had felt most at peace and in touch with the Planet, the only place that still bore a trace of her existence in this world. The place where he had sought refuge when he had found out that he had Geostigma.

She nodded to Vincent. "You're right. Let's all go meet him."

Taking Denzel's hand in hers, she opened the door and stepped out. Marlene went over to Caith Sith and cuddled his soft toy body.

"Aww, you're so cute!"

"I still don' understand." Marlene giggled at her father's puzzled mein and reached out for his hand, pulling the big man out of Seventh Heaven still cuddling Caith with her other arm.

"You don't need to understand Papa. Let's just go and meet Cloud. I'm sure he will love seeing us all there when he will come back! Even you mister!"

Marlene glanced back at the red-caped figure still in the back of the bar. "Wouldn't you like to see him too?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course!" Her brow creased. "You're friends, aren't you?" She walked away with her father, the case closed in her mind.

"Hey come on Vincent! You're part of the team, you've gotta come and give this bleeping welcoming party for the boss too. Don't you dare go slippin off like last time and leave us with Spikey again!"

Vincent's gaze shifted to Cid, his eternal cigarette hanging between his grinning lips. Yuffie started her antics, jumping up and down like a live spring. "Yeah, Vincent! You've gotta come!"

"Come on Vincent." Tifa had heard the whole scene from outside the bar. She was now back in the doorway, with Denzel beside her. "You can't say no to so many ladies." She winked at him and smiled.

Vincent considered her words for a moment before replying as mournfully as ever. "It seems that I don't have a choice in this then." He shook his head ruefully.

"Nope. None at all!" Yuffie jumped to grab his hand. But somehow, he had already smoothly and wisely moved out of the door. The young woman stamped her foot in annoyance.

"You're no fun!"

"Aw, who cares Yuffie. The dude's coming, so lay off him, would ya?" Cid patted her on the head and followed Vincent's lead out of the door. Yuffie made a face at him. "Huh, you don't understand at all, you moron!"

"Of course I do." Cid grinned at her. "You don't want to lay off him at all."

"You…! You-! Arrrghhh!" Yuffie's face turned as red as a mountain monkey's backside, bordering on an apoplexic purple. She screamed her outrage with an interesting combination of well-chosen words at his retreating back, arms wind milling until she finally noticed that she was the only one left in the bar.

"He-Heeeey! Wait for me! There can't be a welcoming party without Yuffie, what are you guys thinking of! Wait! I said, WAIT!"

Author's notes:

I have posted more data about this fanfic on my profile and I have put up some links to fanart and wallpapers i have made for it. check them out! note: if you wish to download/vote, you have to be registered to myotaku. it's free, so don't hesitate to! Remember that vote/reviews/comments are what make my little muse feel better!

This chapter is slightly different from most I have written to date. More chatter, less drabble, to diffuse the tension from the previous chapter. This is one of those group moments in ff7 that i like ;-)

So one chapter and one epilogue for Part One to go! Next chapter will take some time too, being given that i'm half-buried underneath a load of work. :-(

Celeste