"Hey, Tifa? Is it alright if we watch some TV?" Renee asked, popping her head into the kitchen.

"Go for it!" Tifa nodded enthusiastically. Renee thanked her and left again, going to the lounge room. Tifa continued washing up, almost done when someone came up from behind and poked her sides. She squealed and spun around to glare accusingly at Reno.

"Sorry," Reno chuckled. "Couldn't resist."

"Don't do that ever again!" she scolded, but with a small smile on her face.

"Okay, okay. I promise." Reno said, chuckling. "But hey, you never told me who these guests of yours were."

"Oh, sorry! All I really know is that they didn't have anywhere else to go, so I let them stay here. The boy's name is Denzel and the couple are Renee and Ben." Tifa explained. Reno stared at her.

"Renee and Ben?" he asked slowly, just to clarify.

"Yeah, why?" Tifa asked cautiously. Reno continued staring at her, his face paling quickly. His hands started to shake and he turned away, taking slow breaths. "Reno?"

"I have to go." he said, heading for the door. Tifa hurriedly followed, wanting to know what was wrong.

"Reno, tell me what's going on!" She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. "Who are they to you?" Reno turned to look at her, a mix of emotions on his face.

"Please Tifa, I can't tell you." he whispered. She slowly let go of his arm, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Okay. But, you'd tell me if I was in danger wouldn't you?" she asked uncertainly. Reno looked away, and it looked to Tifa as if he was battling with himself.

"Yeah..." The way he said it made it sound like he wasn't sure, and Tifa tilted her head slightly, even more confused now than she had been before.

"Reno-"

"I have to go." Opening the door quickly, he slipped out and shut it behind him. Tifa sighed, walking back to the kitchen and wondering what on earth was going. Did Reno know Renee and Ben? And if so, how?

~~*~~

"Aerith, we need to talk." Zack said solemnly when he came back from buying more food at the market. "I overheard some people talking about something today..."

"What is it?" Aerith asked, immediately worried.

"Sit down, Aerith." Zack said quietly. She promptly sat down on a pew and Zack sat next to her. "ShinRa's been destroyed." Aerith blinked a few times, and then frowned.

"What?" she asked.

"It was risky, but I asked the men what they were talking about when I overheard them and they accused me of living under a rock. Nevertheless, they explained." Zack said, taking a deep breath. "This is what they said. Two years ago a couple of people escaped from ShinRa and and all of their soldiers and turks were sent out to bring them back. Two turks rebelled from the rest and helped them escape. They all disappeared and haven't been seen since.

"But the soldiers that had been sent out had been given messed up mako dosages which made them desperate to kill. As a team, the soldiers came back to ShinRa and attacked, bringing it to the ground. As they fought, they fought against each other as well and eventually killed each other off." Zack stopped and looked at Aerith sadly.

"That's horrible!" Aerith gasped.

"I know. I never realised the real danger of fighting those soldiers." he mumbled in reply.

"Then we don't have to hide." Aerith whispered quietly. "If ShinRa's gone, we're safe!" She looked up at Zack hopefully, and he had trouble resisting.

"We'll have to be careful at first, make sure they were telling the truth. But yeah, I guess we won't have to hide any more." Zack grinned slightly. Aerith's lips broke out into a grin and she flung her arms around him in a hug.

"This is great!" she said happily.

"Yes, it is." Zack nodded against her hair. He closed his eyes and a small tear trickled out. How many of his friends had died in that battle? How many of his friends had been given mako that was tainted with a lust for death?

~~*~~

"Tifa, I'm sorry. I just had to go apologise to Zack. I said some pretty nasty things yesterday." Cloud said quietly. Tifa stared at him and then waved a hand.

"That's fine! Do you want something to eat?" She began walking towards the kitchen and he trailed behind her slowly. He was wearing a SOLDIER uniform he had borrowed of Zack and modified a bit. He felt strangely comfortable in it.

"Tifa? Can you come help us fold the twister mat?" Marlene asked, appearing from the other room.

"Go on." Cloud said, walking past her to the kitchen. Tifa nodded and followed Marlene to help her out.

Cloud found himself some bread and ate it, not wanting to eat too much of anything that was there. He could hear Marlene talking to Tifa, but then he heard another voice that wasn't familiar. It was a boys voice.

"Maybe she is babysitting." Cloud muttered to himself.

Deciding he would do everything he could to not be a burden to Tifa, he headed upstairs to the office. His bed looked exactly how he had left it, so he guessed no one had been in there. Taking a glance at the desk which he hadn't bothered to look at last night, his eyes widened. How did things ever get done in here? It was so messy.

"Tifa? Did you say it was in the office?" Cloud looked over just as Renee appeared in the doorway. He stared at her, and she stared back. Her eyes slowly widened, and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.