All But One

What's the Plan?

The lights were always too dim. It was like this in nearly every building in Edge since Mako was no longer used as the primary energy source. Tifa scooted closer to the edge of the bed and held the book up against the weak lamp stand, straining her eyes to read the small fonts. Ever since she was a child, she picked up a habit of reading right before bedtime. It was a nice way to abandon stress for a while, and also to doze off into slumber. She pulled her blanket up, cuddling into the soft warmth of the thick sheets. Chapter seventeen of 'Love and Cheesecake' was getting good; the protagonist had just confessed his love to the girl next door, and he was trying to plan out a surprise birthday party for her. Tifa was never really big into romantic novels, but Yuffie had recommended this particular book, promising that she'd love it. The lamp began to flicker, emitting an annoying buzzing noise. Tifa gently tapped the light bulb, hoping it would click back to normal, but instead, it went out completely. Tifa sighed in the darkness, placing her book down on the side table and setting her head on the soft pillow.

She must have fallen asleep.

When she opened her eyes, it was still pitch black, but she could hear a lot of thumping downstairs. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, silently stepping onto the floor and holding her arms out to search for the wall. Ah, there it is. She followed the wall slowly to the door, turning the knob ever so gently, being sure not to make any noise.

More thumps. Clunk, clunk, clunk, WHAM! Tifa jumped, startled. She heard a voice curse downstairs. It sounded like Cloud.

She edged her way down the stairs, and grimaced when one of the wooden steps creaked under her weight. The lights were on down in the bar, and she sidled against the wall, making sure she wouldn't be seen.

Cloud was heaving a giant glass container that looked as if it was filled with water. Tifa stared with puzzled eyes. She slowly sneaked down and made her way to the couch, hiding behind its shadow. Cloud grabbed the container at opposite ends and grunted loudly as he lifted it up onto the countertop. After successfully positioning the glass tank into place, he sighed, taking one last glance at it before heading upstairs.

Tifa crept up to the container slowly, and gasped when she saw the small fish that were swimming freely within. It was a fish tank; Tifa had been in love with the ocean ever since her childhood. She remembered the conversation she had with Cloud when they first began to settle down in Edge. He'd asked her what she would wish for if she could have anything in the world. She told him she wanted to live near the ocean.

There was a small tag hanging loosely from the corner of the tank. Tifa smiled as she read the note inside.

"To: Tifa

From: Cloud

Couldn't get you the ocean,

But I hope this'll suffice.

Happy Birthday, Tifa!"

-xXx-

Black leather gloves, steel-rimmed high-top boots with thick brown laces, and the metal elbow pad, cushioned on the inside with a soft padding, but barbed with steel spikes on the outside; this was the combat equipment she had used during the endless fights she and her companions once faced. They had been left in her closet, thrown into the back corner where they could be forgotten, but now, four years later, she had brought them with her to the ruins of Midgar. She knew there would be fighting.

And she couldn't help but pity the fools she'd be up against.

Tifa, Tseng and the others had all gathered again in the old Wall Market. The once lively city square was now abandoned and dull, a ghostly silence filling the atmosphere and the stores wrecked and forgotten. They were situated near Don Corneo's empty mansion, where Tifa had first met Aerith Gainsborough. She leaned against the wall, her mind clouded with old memories as the rest of the team discussed the situation.

"None of this makes sense!" Yuffie yelled. She was seated on the floor, her arms securely wrapped around the materia Vincent and Elena had excavated. She was still bitter towards Vincent after he forbade her from using them.

"I mean…what's up with that note Tifa found in the house? It freaks me out!"

Reno nodded. "That note makes it seem like they knew we were coming. Didn't it say something like 'they'll be coming soon'? Maybe the 'they' is referring to us."

"Perhaps," Vincent said. "It's obvious that whoever occupied that house knew about the materia that was lying around Midgar."

"Yeah. It said 'we're going to find some more materia.' But what about those photos?" Elena asked, massaging her aching shoulders. "I don't get any of this!"

Tseng stepped forward, his face calm and emotionless. "Whoever took Cloud, Barret and the President, they're smart. According to Tifa, those pictures were taken more than two years ago."

Yuffie nodded. "We all took a group picture together at Tifa's bar."

"Indeed. And considering all those other pictures we found, it seems like our targets have been planning this out for quite a long time."

Tseng closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. "This is what I think. I'm going to guess that our target, Cloud's captor, is a man. Since the note was obviously addressed to someone he was expecting, we can guess that there's more than one of them. So here's what I've figured out so far: more than two years ago, a group of people decided that they wanted to capture Cloud, Barret, and Rufus for a reason we don't yet know. They lived in Midgar because they were too stubborn to move in to Edge. That's where they found this new materia. One of them began to visit Tifa's bar regularly, taking photographs of their wanted targets. Now I'm assuming he is the one who took the group picture, so that's when he figured out that Cloud had friends other than Tifa and Barret. This delayed their plan. They must've waited for the perfect moment to execute it. One day, they call Cloud, requesting a delivery, so he'd come to their location. They ambush him, and take him somewhere, probably Midgar. Sometime later, they plan out the perfect kidnap for Rufus and Barret as well. They expect Tifa and her friends to search for Cloud, and us Turks to search for Rufus."

Tseng paused, opening his eyes again and glancing at each of them, one by one.

"Let's hope that they never expected us to work together. It's our one advantage in this situation."

Vincent nodded. "That's true. They probably never guessed we'd team up with the Turks."

"God, this is so messed up!" Yuffie yelled.

Tifa strapped the elbow pad to her arm, adjusting it tightly so it wouldn't move around during a fight. She knelt down to tighten the laces on her boots. The brown color didn't go well with her black outfit, but it didn't really matter to her. The steel rims were meant to deal some heavy damage; that's all she cared about right now. She cracked her knuckles as she slowly returned to the rest of the group. Rude stared at her in awe. He was considered a hard hitter, but he'd experienced firsthand what this woman was capable of. It was a memory he didn't want to relive.

They all stood there for a while, most of them just clearing out the long explanation Tseng had told them, but Tifa was busy stretching, as if she was preparing for a battle.

Reno shrugged, tapping the metal rod against his shoulder. "So, chief?"

Tseng looked at him.

"What's the plan?"

-xXx-

A small white stub was flicked to the ground. It had been smoked to the filter. Cid spat to the side, stretching his arms out and taking in the cool breeze. He grinned. Damn…can't believe I'm gonna have a kid. His wife Shera was now eight months pregnant. They were expecting a boy.

He went back inside and saw that Shera was fixing lunch in the kitchen. A warm smell of freshly cooked food hung in the air, and Cid smiled. It was his favorite meal.

"You need to cut down on the working," he said, wrapping an arm around his wife. "You gotta relax more! I'll take care of the dishes, ya hear?"

Shera smiled, flipping the meat patty while it sizzled on the frying pan. "Sure you will," she teased.

Cid gave her a mocking face and headed to the table. There were papers scattered all over the wooden surface, most of them just W.R.O. forms he needed to fill out for the recruitment program for the Air Force. He sat down and picked up the pen. One of the papers had a small note stapled to the corner. Cid grinned. It was from Reeve.

Well, Captain, I heard about the news last week!

How could you not tell me you were having a child?

You're a real bastard for keeping such things secret!

Ha, I hope Shera remains healthy and in good shape.

Let me know when you have the baby, you hear?

P. S. Have you heard about Barret's sudden disappearance?

Tseng notified me about a week ago. He said

Barret hasn't been seen at the drilling station

for a month. I've already begun an investigation

on it. Tell me if you get in touch with him, okay?

Cid rubbed his hand over his stubby chin, frowning. He hadn't heard anything about Barret or the others in a while, except for Yuffie who had made calls once a week since they last met in Edge two years ago. Shera told Tifa about her pregnancy a few months ago, but other than that, they'd been too busy to keep in touch. He turned and was about to tell Shera about the news when—

BANG BANG BANG!

Gunshots! Cid jumped up. The hell was that?!

He looked over at Shera, whose face had paled.

"Stay in the room!" he told her. "I'll go check it out."

She nodded and turned off the stove. Their lunch would have to wait for now.

"Be careful, Cid!" she said, then hurried off into the hallway.

Cid grabbed the long spear that was leaning against the corner of the living room, and cautiously approached the door.

Bang Bang!

They were coming from outside. He turned the knob and slammed the door open, glaring out to see what was happening. He saw a crowd of people running frantically, a chorus of frightful screams shrieking from their direction. One man had a gun in his hand, occasionally turning back to fire at whatever was chasing them. Cid dashed out, cursing under his breath. He gripped the shaft of his spear tightly, unsure of what to expect.

Cid strained his eyes to see a single man walking towards the frightened crowd. He was holding what looked like a thin sword. But he couldn't make out his face.

He ran into the crowd, cursing as he pushed and shoved his way through, being careful not to impale anyone with his spear. When the last line of people finally rushed past him, Cid glared at the man who'd been causing all this uproar. But when he stared into a familiar face, he froze, dropping the spear to the ground.

"Cloud?!"