Hello everyone. For forewarning, I did try to put a little romance in the story (I hope you're reading this, Rend!). It's probably not much, so don't flame me!

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It was nighttime, but the moon was not there. No evening birds graced the mountain forest with their music. No animals scurried on the ground. The quiet was eerie and chilling. It was dead, unpleasant silence; there was no peace in it at all.

The creepy night was not disrupted, even as the feet of several dozen men jogged across the forest floor in different groups or directions. The trees seemed to go for miles and miles, until the unknown soldiers reached a large clearing. In the clearing, there stood a tall, vast building, shielded by the tall, pine trees from the rest of the world. The main headquarters of Shinra and Genova Corporations.

Security lights flashed from side to side, causing the men to hide in the trees. Their leader, a fierce, tanned man, pulled a walkie-talkie radio and pushed an intercom button.

"Hey," he whispered harshly. "Why haven't you killed the security lights yet? Have they done it yet?"

"No response from our end."

Far off, deep in the forest, five men waited patiently. They watched as their companion put away his radio and begged him for an answer with their eyes.

"Not yet..."

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Upstairs, on the top floor, Mr. Shinra stacked a small package of papers neatly. He grabbed a manila envelope and tucked the papers in. Sighing heavily, he sat back in his chair, behind a desk full of other papers.

"What am I going to do with that girl?" he mumbled. "I should never have let her become an assassin."

The secretary knocked at his office door and he welcomed her in.

"Sir, I have sent that package and letter to Mr. Strife as you requested."

"Good." Shinra mostly said this to himself.

Shinra let himself go off into thin air and completely forgot that his secretary. She stared at him, puzzled and worried.

"Is there anything else I may do for you, Mr. Shinra?"

Shinra shook himself out of oblivion and asked her to repeat the question.

"Is there anything you need, sir?"

Shinra shook his head vigorously. The secretary turned around to return to her desk. Mr. Shrinra got up from his desk and went to his snack table for a cup of coffee. As he reached for the pot, he heard the familiar click of a gun. He turned around a saw a woman, sitting on his desk and flanked by two other men in trench coats. Her smile was on the safe side of the barrel.

"Good evening, Mr. Shinra. It's been quite a while."

"Miss Lucy Skandon," he replied calmly. "You're not wearing stilettos tonight."

Shinra put his hands up.

"That's the least of your worries," Lucy coolly replied.

She snapped her fingers, and the two men walked toward him. Both stopped at either side of him and began their work. The man behind Shinra firmly grabbed him by the arms, while the other treated him as a punching bag. A punch in the stomach, and Mr. Shinra groaned loudly in pain. The office door was opened.

"Mr. Shinra, are you alright? What's going on?"

The secretary stared at Shinra's dilemma in shock. A shot rang out, and the secretary yelped in pain. She fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

"Let him down," Lucy commanded.

Shinra was violently thrown down to floor, coughing. The men stood over him.

"I don't like doing barbaric things like this," Lucy mocked. "But you've had it coming for twenty-seven years...the Blue Lotus doesn't appreciate plagiarism."

"Is that all?" Shrina asked weakly.

"No," she replied sharply. "You foolish, old man. We would have gladly let you slip by with what you stole from us...but there is something we can't ignore."

"And what is that?"

Lucy brushed her midnight black hair from her face.

"Project Ultima's personal genetics," she answered. "It was given to the buyers in a folder, and it was the only copy. We want it back."

Shinra struggled to get up on his hands and knees.

"Why would you need that?" he asked flippantly. "He was created just like any other BECS. Surely you've done a good job creating others."

Lucy Skandon did not like his answer. She slid off of the desk, walked towards him, and handed her gun to one of the men. Then, Lucy gave him a swift kick in the face and sent him sprawling against his snack table. The coffee machine crashed against the floor and scalded Shinra with hot water.

"Don't play with us," Lucy snarled. "You know very well why we want it!"

Lucy grabbed Mr. Shinra by the collar and forced him onto his feet. She savagely threw him against his own desk.

"We saved a part of his DNA after the business deal. We have tried and tried and fail ever time we try to make one just like him! Of course...we go with the same process...add the same chemical...manipulate it the exact...same...way...and come out with the completed experiment."

Lucy stomped on Shinra's groin repeatedly, and he stifled a scream.

"But it never... comes out... the same way!" she yelled.

Lucy stepped and looked at the mess that was old Mr. Shinra. He breathed haggardly, but looked up to her in proud defiance.

"The difference is in the genetics of Mr. and Mrs. Johnathan Strife," Lucy said calmly. "Before the samples were even used. We cannot figure out what the difference is until we have the samples. I believe some of them are with that personal file I spoke of."

Then, to Lucy's surprise, Shinra sat up straight against his desk and began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Lucy. "Did I knock something to hard?"

The chuckle turned into a whoop.

"You fool," Shinra cried.

Shinra dug out a small remote from his pocket.

"What the heck is that?"

"The remote that controls the bombs rigged in this very room, Miss Skandon."

Lucy stepped backwards behind the two men in horror.

"You lie!" she shouted.

Shinra pressed a button and a beeping sound could be heard throughout the room.

"You may have thirty seconds to get out of the room," Shinra replied.

"You old geezer!" shouted one of the men.

Shinra snickered and dropped the remote on the floor.

"Do you really think I'd sing for you after a beating?" Shinra said dryly. "Did you really think I'd give up that information to people like you? I've spent my life fighting crime, and I'll die in the same way. You'll never get anything out of me!"

Lucy stood close to the emergency exit, growling in rage. She opened the escape window and climbed out.

"Come on!" she shouted frantically. "We can't do anything anymore!"

She went down the stairs alone, and the two men scrambled to get to the window. As Lucy made down the third level, the office exploded. Smoke, fire, and debris fell. Lucy looked up, but her companions had never made it.

The radio in her jacket pocket vibrated with sound. She pulled it out answered.

"What happened up there!"

The gruff voice of a soldier.

"The crazy old geezer blew himself up with the other two," she replied. "We got nothing."

"Do we do it anyhow?" the voice boomed.

"Yes."

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Two receptionist girls sat at their desks, near the elevators, chatting away. One chewed bubble gum, cracking it every few seconds.

"You have got to stop chewing gum. Cindy," said one of the girls. "It's a bad habit."

"I just quit smoking," Cindy replied. "I have to distract myself somehow."

Two security guards ran past them frantically.

"Darnit!" shouted one of them. "The security lights are dead! What a night..."

The girls watched as the two guards ran off through the door.

"Do you think...?"

"Don't worry yourself," Cindy interrupted. "The security lights sometimes go out because of a glitch."

The chime of the elevator door caught their attention. As it opened, a group of armed men flew out of it, nearly startling the girls to death. They got out of their desks and ran where the security guards did. The guards opened fired and managed to hit Cindy before she could escape with her friend. The other girl looked back for a moment, to see her dead friend falling to the floor and wanted to go back. But escape was the only thing she could do.

One of the armed men attempted to pursue her, but a fellow soldier stopped him.

"Forget her!" he shouted. "We kill and rig in the west part of the building. The other group will get her."

The night was filled with terrified screams, and then, there was no more.

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The telephone on the nightstand broke the tranquil quiet of the bedroom. Cloud turned over in his bed squinted in the dark. He groggily reached for it, fully annoyed that his sleep was interrupted.

"Hello?"

He listened carefully, but was met with the hysterical jabber of a teenage girl.

"Hey, calm down. I can hardly understand what you're saying..."

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Cloud quickly walked through the dark kitchen to get to the laundry room. "Incidently", Tifa was stealing a midnight snack. Hearing noises, Cloud switched on the light.

"My," he said. "A person."

Tifa blushed, embarrassed that she had been found.

"I got hungry," he replied. "It's as simple as that."

"You got fully dressed just to eat?" he asked.

Tifa blushed all the more.

"You can't go by yourself," she said as an excuse. "The others will panic if you, being their 'charge', leave by yourself."

"Were you eavesdropping on me and the maids?"

Tifa sank her head and nodded sullenly. Cloud shook his head at her once again and gave her permission to come along.

They entered the laundry room and went through another door, leading to the outside.

"Where are we going?" Tifa asked.

"To the Panera Bread," he replied. "Juusang is waiting for me there."

"Juusang? The Korean girl in the dance class?"

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The car pulled up along the sidewalk, near the Panera Bread Bakery. Juusang walked from the window at a booth as Cloud and Tifa got out. Juusang quietly choked on sobs. She looked away from the window with her bloodshot eyes and stared at her glasses on the table.

"Juusang?"

Juusang looked up and saw her teacher. Cloud scooted into the booth with her, and she began cry again. He offered Juusang a hug, which she accepted happily. Tifa decided to sit at a different table.

"What happened?"

"M...my mom," Juusang stammered. "She...she threw me out of the house...we got in a fight."

"And why did you call me?" asked Cloud.

"Aeris is out of town...so, you were the only I thought would come and help me."

Juusang wriggled away from the embrace, afraid that she was becoming too clingy. Cloud folded his arms, trying to think of what to do.

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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tifa asked. "Taking her in like this."

Cloud and Tifa peered into the newly occupied room and saw that Juusang was fast asleep.

"I had no choice," Cloud replied. "I can't just leave her on the streets...and a homeless shelter is no place for a girl like that."

Tifa sighed and leaned against the wall.

"I guess it's too late night now," she muttered. "Did you call her mom?"

Cloud looked down at the floor, sadly. "Yes, I told her everything."

"And what did she say?"

Cloud leaned on the wall next to her.

"What did she say?" Tifa repeated.

"She said," Cloud replied in astonishment. "She said 'keep her'."

Tifa was too shocked to be angry.

"How can a parent do that to their own child?" Cloud asked himself. "You bring them into the world...and then you have the heart of dump them on the streets?!"

Tifa stared at him with sympathy in her eyes. She tried to hold back tears.

"That really pisses me off!"

"It's good," Tifa said. "It's good that you feel that way."

Cloud gazed at her in surprise. Tifa stopped leaning on the wall and stood in front of him. She took his hand and held it between hers.

"It's good. I think being able to feel sympathy for the neglected is wonderful. People don't pay attention. They take life for granted...even when those unfortunate people are in their faces everyday. But there are some who see it...and want to do something about it...I think that people who are like that...are truly human."

Cloud smiled weakly, immediately held Tifa close, and planted long kiss on her cheek. Tifa felt like a shy, school girl again, if not completely surprised. She had not been hugged this warmly in years.

"Thank you... Tifa."

The embrace lasted a little longer than Cloud had intended. He let go of Tifa and looked at her apologetically, but she was not angry.

"We better get some sleep," Cloud declared. "We've been staying up late for the past week."

Tifa watched his retreating figure disappear down the hall with a happy smile. She turned around to head in the opposite direction and saw Yuffie standing there watching her.

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Revisions, revisions...