A/N: Thanksto all of you who left comments. I'm glad you liked the first part, and hope you enjoy this next installment. KokoroHikaru: Glad you're liking things so far. Fair point you raised about inaccuracies when compared to the game. Actually, I tried to keep a lot of dialogue as accurate as I could to the game (which I recall involved a lot of painstaking sitting in front of the game and copying down reams of script :p), but I chose to combine this with creative licence, since copying everything word for word, action for action would've made the story rather stilted and predictable, don't you think? I've also added some extra scenes and stuff just to spice things up... But that'll come later. Enjoy, everyone! :)

-oOo-

:: Chapter One :: AVALANCHE

In all the twenty-one years of his life, Cloud Strife had never had things easy. No, that was not right. He was like everyone else, he'd had his ups and downs, it had always been that way. He was just a normal guy.

It had started out like this.

He had left his hometown of Nibelheim seven years ago, looking for fame and fortune, as most young and impressionable boys of his age did, and he had joined SOLDIER, the Shinra's most prestigious military organisation. It had all been down to the Great War; it had been going on for most of Cloud's childhood. War was a fixture. Cloud had never really been certain of what it was. War was miles away, on another Continent. Cloud was in Nibelheim. There was the well in the village-centre; the broken-down truck at the entrance - the only truck in town -; the inn with the grumpy innkeeper; the mangy dog who always hung around. And because war wasn't in boring old Nibelheim, war was the most glamorous thing in the world.

Cloud remembered the stories they heard from the faraway war-front. His childhood had been filled with heroic epics, of battles fought and won. Of Sephiroth, their international hero, an elite member of the Shinra's SOLDIER outfit. Sephiroth was the one person that every boy had wanted, still wanted, to become. Such had been Cloud's eagerness to become the new Sephiroth that he had worked himself straight to the top SOLDIER. It had been the hardest thing he'd ever had to achieve.

Five years on, and Cloud had thrown it all away. He did not ask himself why, it hurt too much, because he'd thrown it all away and he'd got to the top. The reason for leaving was this: Shinra Incorporated was corrupt.

He had felt stupid, he should have known. Power and money were all that mattered, and where that lay was in Mako, and so Mako meant everything. Cloud still remembered the daily injections of Mako, into his body, emerald liquid into his veins, liquid sucked out from the earth, the magic of the Planet. It was meant to improve SOLDIER's performance, but all it did was give their eyes an unnatural brightness. But Mako belonged to the Planet and science had no place in its existence. That was why Cloud had thrown away his dream.

And ended up blowing that damned Mako Reactor in Sector One to smithereens.

Becoming a wandering mercenary had been a spur of the moment decision for Cloud, mainly because of his desperate need for Gil. Going to Midgar was the obvious choice of venue for him, primarily because of the reason that such a lot needed to be sorted out there. It had been quite a coincidence that he had met his childhood friend, Tifa Lockheart, there, just as soon as he'd got off the train.

He had not seen her in five years. She had grown a lot and it had embarrassed him. As she had taken him back to her restaurant, Seventh Heaven, he had been oddly aware of the times when he'd waited outside her window as a child, waiting to be asked inside her house. Now, both their parents were dead and times had changed. Tifa was now in a group of misfit rebels, AVALANCHE, a sort of small eco-warrior organisation. In this group he'd seen his other childhood mates, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. And then he'd met their leader, Barret Wallace.

Barret was the one who was the real eco-warrior. He had a young daughter, Marlene, and the Shinra had killed his wife. A big, burly, black man, he'd also lost his right arm to them. As replacement, a gun had been fitted into his severed arm, and with this he swore he'd take revenge on those who'd ruined his life. He would not take no for an answer, and as soon as he'd heard of Cloud's stint with SOLDIER, he'd forced him to join his raid of the Sector One Reactor. Cloud had agreed. He had needed the money, badly. Tifa had been worried. She insisted that just finding her childhood friend didn't mean she wanted him to disappear again. Cloud's reluctance hadn't paid out. He'd gone, with Barret, Wedge, Biggs and Jessie and suffered under their leader's suspicion of him. Ah well, he'd thought. I'll be out of here by tomorrow. And then, much to his disconcertment, Tifa had forced him to stay, at least for the night.

And that night, he had a dream. A dream of the past.

Strangely, the dream seemed impersonal to Cloud, like it had never really happened to him.

"When was that?" Cloud asked himself, trying to connect the dream to an event, a memory of his past "I can't remember."

Was he meant to remember? No, it was only a dream. Just a dream.

Then the previous day came flooding back to him. Dammit, he thought, I'll have to get out of here. Find a new job. Get paid by Barret, and get a new job. Then I'm out.

As though interrupting his resolutions, Tifa entered the room. Her face was flushed as she ran her eyes over him, and her expression was an attempt to mask an obvious approval of what she saw.

"Good morning Cloud. I'm glad you're awake." she told him unnecessarily "It's Barret. He wants to talk to you."

Cloud could not really be bothered to talk to Barret, as little as he could be bothered to rouse himself from bed. The man annoyed him, with his macho male facade. It was obvious that he had a heart of gold and that his life was devoted to Marlene. It was evident too that he needed Cloud to get through his reactor-destroying mission. It was no small job blowing up reactors, and AVALANCHE was sure to get a name as a group of most-wanted criminals.

Cloud lazed back on the soft mattress. He had not felt a real mattress beneath him in years.

"Tifa, can it wait? I really can't be bothered..."

"Cloud!" Tifa interrupted, pouting indignantly "You have to!"

Cloud did not know why he gave into Tifa so easily. Maybe it was because of the way he'd felt about her in the past, and maybe it was because he was being cautious of her after five years apart. That curious sense of embarrassment touched him again, as he looked at her. She's pretty, he thought, prettier than she used to be. Perhaps his feelings for her had not changed; maybe they'd just waited for the time when he'd see her again. This time.

The thought roused him from his bed.

"Okay, okay, I'll speak to him." he sighed, showing off in his usual cocky way "But it doesn't mean I'm staying."

Tifa smiled easily at him, as though she knew that he would be staying anyway.

Barret at bursting-point by the time Cloud ventured downstairs. He didn't like being kept waiting, that was certain.

"What've you been sleepin' for?" Barret raged in his clipped speech "Today's the day when we raid the Sector Five Reactor. An' you've been sleepin' inta ya work! Get ready now, sharp-ass!!"

"Who says I'm going on your stupid raid anyway?" Cloud retorted coolly, in his infuriatingly calm manner.

"'Cos I'm givin' you this!" Barret lobbed a small package of money toward Cloud, which he caught deftly in his right hand. Cloud looked back at him questioningly.

"One thousand five hundred Gil." Barret stated matter-of-factly "And there'll be more after that if you stay. This is the sum so far up front."

Is he that desperate? Cloud mused to himself.

"I'm not taking it." he answered with a tone of dismissal.

"What?!!" Barret exclaimed, rage beginning to build up behind his face. Cloud shrugged.

"You're asking me to blow up reactors and at the same time you're offering me the measly sum of one thousand five hundred. I'll only play your game if you pay me double up front and then the rest later."

"Now listen here, you frickin' swindler, I..."

"Barret!" Tifa placed a warning hand on the big man's shoulder "It's okay."

"But Tifa," Barret whispered loudly between gritted teeth "this money's going toward Marlene's schoolin'! It's the last offer I'm making to this Cloud of yours!"

So saying, Barret lumbered off to his secret hideout under the bar, literally foaming at the mouth. Tifa sighed and turned to Cloud, disappointment showing on her face. Cloud got a grip on himself.

"Tifa, before you say anything, there's no way I'm going along with Barret's stupid game of blowing up reactors. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't stand a chance in hell."

The speech seemed to give him confidence to leave. He didn't know until that moment that he would probably have stayed. He had got no further than touching the doorknob when Tifa's voice stopped him.

"Cloud."

The soft note in her voice caused him to lose the confidence he'd just gained. He turned in the doorway, feeling angry with himself for being so weak, and awkward for feeling so touched.

Tifa was looking at him, and he was surprised to see the tenderness in her expression. Since her parent's death, Tifa had been a fighter, tough and strong-willed. He had not seen such a look on her face for as long as he could remember.

"Cloud, you do remember the promise we made, don't you?"

He cast his memory back over the years, but all he saw were the voids that seemed to occupy the past in his mind. He shook his head.

"No, I don't."

Tifa was patient.

"You must remember. It was seven years ago. At the well, back in Nibelheim."

The memory seemed to rush into his head like an awe-inspiring revelation. He remembered, in a flash, that long wait at the well, the starry night, and a thirteen-year-old Tifa, his childhood sweetheart. Cloud lowered his eyelids.

"Yeah. I remember." he replied in a quiet voice "I was waiting for you a long time, and I was getting cold."

Tifa nodded.

"You were leaving," she said, her eyes misty "so I made you promise..."

Cloud passed his mind over the event seven years ago. It was the time when he'd made up his mind to join SOLDIER, and become as great as Sephiroth. He'd called Tifa to the Nibelheim well, just to see her before he went, just to explain the reasons why. He'd felt he'd needed to tell her why he was going. And when he had, he remembered the way her eyes had widened, and then lowered again as though in reflection.

"Then will you promise," she'd said "that you'll be my hero?"

Cloud had been surprised "What?" he'd asked.

"Be my hero." Tifa had repeated, blushing "I want to experience that at least once in my life." She'd looked up at him "Yeah. If I'm ever in a bind, you'll come and rescue me, right Cloud?"

There had been nothing for it but to agree. And that had been their promise.

With a reluctant shift to the future, Cloud looked back up at the present day Tifa.

"Well," she began cheerfully "I'm in a bind now. The whole Planet's in a bind, Cloud. You promise me you'll stay, don't you?"

Cloud had this odd feeling that he'd already fulfilled his promise to Tifa, but he wasn't sure this was entirely true. He nodded slowly, and saw that blatant relief and pleasure crossed Tifa's face.

"Thanks, Cloud."

At that moment, Marlene entered the room, interrupting whatever could have followed next between the two. Marlene seemed a little shy, especially now that Cloud was standing not far off. He remembered how yesterday the young girl had flinched at the massive sword he'd been holding in his hand. Now, she pressed herself up against Tifa's leg, staring momentarily at Cloud and then looking away. Tifa bent down to speak to her.

"Marlene, say hello Cloud. You forgot to, yesterday."

The girl said nothing and her pretty eyes remained focused on the ground. Tifa turned to Cloud apologetically.

"Sorry. She's just a little shy. She doesn't mean anything."

And then, in unison, both Tifa and the young girl's eyes caught sight of the tiny flower tucked into his right brace.

"Oh Cloud! That's so pretty!" Cloud guessed that Tifa had not seen a flower in a long time too, as she stared at it in pleasure "Where'd you get it?"

The blue forget-me-not seemed to jolt Cloud's memory into gear again as he plucked it from his brace. He remembered the flower girl he'd seen yesterday and the flicker of recognition that had passed over her green eyes as he'd approached her. He regretted being so cocky with her now. She was a different girl all together, a real flower girl.

He felt guilty and silly with the flower in his hand. He did not need it and he didn't want to be reminded of the girl he'd met yesterday. He half considered giving it to Tifa, but as he looked at Marlene standing by her leg, he thought he saw a sort of childish resemblance in her to the flower girl. Lowering down on to his knees, he handed her the forget-me-not without much thought, and without saying a word.

Marlene snatched at the flower eagerly, and Cloud realised sadly that she'd probably never held one in her short life. Just as Marlene had wordlessly scuttled to the other side of the room toward the bar, Barret entered the room again from his hideout. Immediately noticing his daughter, he picked her up, tenderly and playfully placing her on his broad shoulder. At the same moment, he noticed the blue flower in the girl's hand.

"A flower!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed "That's pretty Marlene. Where'd you get it?"

"Cloud gave it to me." Marlene replied, casting a pretty eye toward him "He gave me the forget-me-not."

"Oh." Barret passed Cloud a glance, something that tried to bring across a semblance of gratitude. Cloud felt embarrassed at the older man's warmth. He turned away, just in time to face Biggs, Wedge and Jessie as they came in.

"Yo, Barret!" Biggs greeted loudly "We getting a move on?! Everything's in order."

Jessie, who'd been eyeing Cloud appreciatively, finally turned her gaze toward Barret "Yep, we've got the ID cards ready Barret."

Barret put down Marlene, slapped Wedge across the back.

"Great, let's go!!" he paused as he turned to Cloud "You comin'?"

Cloud conceded a nod.

"That's great!" Jessie exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically.

"To the Sector Five Reactor!!" cried Barret, booming it out like a war cry.

Before Cloud could follow the other's out, a hand touched his shoulder gently.

"I'm coming too." Tifa told him, her voice as soothing as her hand.

-oOo-

Next: The team infiltrate the Mako Reactor and Cloud's destiny begins to unravel...