Here's the next chapter but first I will reply to the people that reviewed to the first chapter.
Bright Lotus: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Now I know that some of my stories have lots of reviews but thats not the reason I write my stories. The reason they have lots of reviews is because I had a good idea. I started writing to improve my literacy and it has helped alot. I hope you will keep reading this story.
ranma hibiki: Thanks for reading and reviewing. It's not a prologue. If it was it would be about 200 words long.
Squall67584: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Hopefully this will all be written in the past tense but sometimes I wont notice where it slips into a different tense as it makes sense to me to be in that tense.
Firedude328: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Beeria: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hopefully will go through the whole story.
DragonessWarrior: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Ecchi-ANBU: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Your review was the most thoughtful and the one I paid the most attention to while writing this chapter and when I get around to writing the other chapters.
Kameko Suigami: Thanks for reading and reviewing. You are wrong. Even if Seph didn't kill Aerith holy would still be summoned as she had already prayed for it. The only reason it took to long to take effect was because Seph was stopping it. Even though it wouldn't matter if he did, holy is not strong enough to stop meteor.
One Winged Cetra: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Crazy Little Zombie: Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 2Is This The Real Life – Is It Just Fantasy
Cloud was unsure as how to approach the current situation he was in. Going through his past is nothing unusual but being able to change it was by being there is. If he is really here and this is really happening then he could not just jump straight in and change everything how he liked. Everything he could do differently would affect how thing change, not just in the future but also now. If he were to tell Aerith what he knows she may think him crazy. If she actually believes him and he stops her from being kidnapped by Shinra then he would never meet Red and he would also be in unfamiliar territory himself.
Cloud moves on, there was no point in him contemplating on the ifs and buts. The best thing to do is to play it by ear and hope he doesn't mess things up too much. Cloud steeps out into the street just as Aerith gets knocked down but some youths in a panic. Instead of leaving Aerith to pick herself up he decides to help her. He quickly moves to her side and takes an arm, much to Aeriths surprise, and helps her up.
"Oh ... Thank you. Most people are not so kind." Aerith said as she looked Cloud over. "Excuse me but do you know what just happened?
"I'm guessing from that explosion that an extremist group just blow up a rector." Cloud said bending the truth a little. "I didn't think it was possible to grow flowers in Midgar. What with the reactors draining all the planets life force an all." Cloud stated.
Aerith seemed to ignore Clouds statement about the reactors but she did have a slightly confused look on her face before covering it up, she must of wanted to sell her flowers and get home. "Do you like them? They're only a gil."
Cloud pretended to think it over before digging into his pockets. He puled out his hand and in it as a hundred gil coin. He guessed that the other coins were the same of higher in worth as he never carried around small money.
"Umm ... here. I'll take two, you can keep the change." Cloud said and handed over the money. Aerith handed him the two flowers then examined the coin that Cloud gave her.
"Wait! This is a hundred gil! I can't take this." Aerith protested.
"I have nothing smaller and besides, I have lots of money." Aerith was going to argue this, Cloud could see it in her eyes but was saved when he heard the train whistle go off. "I'm sorry Miss but If I don't leave now I will miss my train. See you again." Cloud ran off leaving a very befuddled Aerith behind.
Cloud ran as fast as he could and completely ignored the Shinra soldiers that were calling him. Cloud jumped on the train just as it came out the tunnel.
In the storage compartment of the train, Barret, Wedge, Jessie and Biggs were all sitting quietly, basking in the glory of a job well done. But on all there minds was Clouds location and condition.
"Cloud never came. Wedge said, stating what everyone was thinking.
"Cloud …Wonder if he was killed?"
"No way! From what I saw Cloud could take out an entire army! Barret yelled at Biggs.
"Cloud ..." Jessie wonders to herself. When Cloud saved her she got a fluttering in her stomach and it wouldn't go away.
"Say, do you think Cloud's … Going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE? Biggs asks their fearless leader.
"The hell would I know!? Do I look like a mind reader?" Barret humphed.
"Hey, Barret! What about our money...?" Barret slammed his right mechanical machine gun arm on a crate. "Uh, nothing ...sorry." Wedge said a little frightened at Barrets rage.
Everyone went quiet as there was nothing else to talk about. A little time passed before the cargo door slides open and Cloud flips inside, right into Barrets face.
"Cloud!" Wedge and Biggs happily shouted.
"Cloud ..." Jessie said quietly to herself, containing her happiness that Cloud is uninjured.
"Looks like I'm a little late." Cloud said wiping his eyes free of smoke.
"You damn right, you're late! Come waltzin in here makin a big scene! Barret bellowed.
"Sorry about that. I met a girl."
"You're late because you met a girl! Shit! Havin everyone worried like that! All because you met a girl! You don't give a damn bout no one but yourself!
"Hmm……you were worried about me then? Cloud asked knowing exactly how Barret would react.
"Wha!? I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" Barret yelled. "Wake up everyone! We're movin out! Follow me!" Barret jumped over a crate and leaves. Wedge and Biggs followed leaving Cloud and Jessie alone.
"Be careful, I'll shut this." Jessie shut the door and then examined Cloud. "Oh, Cloud, your face is pitch-black." Jessie grabs her hanky and her water canteen. She soaked the hanky and with a little effort wiped the soot of Clouds face. "There you go." Jessie walked up to the crate blocking the door and turns back to Cloud. "Say, thanks for helping me back there at the Reactor. If you had not stopped I would have died back there.
Cloud gave her a little smile before reminding her of something important. "If I had not stopped to help you then we all would have died. You were the only one who has the door code." The realisation of that made Jessie laugh. Jessie jumped the crate and joined the others. Cloud followed, when he got through the door an announcement from the conductor came out the speakers.
Last train out of Sector Eight Station. Last stop is Sector Seven, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is Twelve Twenty Three AM, Midgar Standard Time.
"Cloud! Over here!" Jessie called to Cloud. Cloud internally groaned, he was bored the first time he went through this and going through it a second time will be worse then fighting Sephiroth. Cloud walk slowly up to Jessie as he didn't want to go through this again but it was inevitable and he know it.
"Hey, Cloud. You want to look at this with me? It's a map of the Midgar Railing System. Let's look at it together. I'll explain it to you. I like this kinda stuff, Bombs and monitors…you know, flashy stuff. Okay, it's about to start." A 3D picture of Midgar appears on the screen. "This is a complete model of city of Midgar. It's about One, Ten Thousand to scale. The top plate is about Fifty meters above ground." Jessie said all this while pointing to all the numbers on the screen.
"Yes, very interesting." Cloud said not really paying attention.
"A main support structure holds the plate up in the centre, and there are other support structures built in each section." Jessie leaned in close to whisper some some thing that she didn't want the other passengers to hear, 'The Number One Reactor we blew up was in the northern section.' Jessie leaned back to continue her lesson to Cloud with out looking more suspicious. "Then there's Number Two, Number Three all the way up to the Number Eight Reactor. The eight Reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is. Phew…, this is next." Jessie pushed a button and the screen changed to show something else.
"Uh huh." Was all Cloud said
"Look. This is the route this train is on. The route spirals around the main support structure. We should be coming around the centre area, right now. At each checkpoint, an ID sensor device is set up. It can check the identities and background on each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the central data bank at Shinra Headquarters. Jessie leaned close again to whisper to Cloud again. 'Anyone could tell that we look suspicious so we're using fake ID's.' Suddenly an Alarm went off. 'Speak of the devil… That light means that we're in the ID Security Check area. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out. Jessie stood up straight again to finish her explanation of Midgar. "Anyhow, we're almost back now. That's a relief."
"I'll say." Cloud said walking off and sitting next to Barret.
"Look … you can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there … we could see the sky." Cloud tried to change the subject of the plates. But said the wrong thing.
"I could go for a pizza."
"It's cuz of that bloody pizza, that people underneath are sufferin! And the city below is full of polluted air. On topa that, the Reactor keeps drainin up all the energy!
"I know all this Barret. That's why I'm here. To help stop Shinra for what they are doing to the world and what they did to me ... for what they are doing to the world." Barret looked at Cloud confused, He has not been told of Clouds past but he knew he grew up with Tifa and that he has left Shinra but why he left he has not been told, by Cloud or Tifa. Both are very closed off about there past.
The train stops and everyone gets off. Cloud doesn't wait for the others. He walked past them and in the direction of Sector Seven Slums.
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