When it rained, my mother used to tell me to come inside before I got sick. I would always tell her "Just a little longer," And basked in the cool drops of water on my skin. I would give anything to feel rain once again...

The ride to Kalm was long but Cloud was relieved it was over, dismounting his bike by the Inn. He stretched his arms and back before being greeted by a familiar face. Reeve Tuesti walked towards him with a bearded smile extending his hand out to greet the blonde which Cloud took quickly to be polite.

"Let me help you with those." Reeve offered grabbing some of his bags off of the motorcycle.

"Thanks." Cloud replied, grabbing the rest of his luggage from his beloved Fenrir. "So what's this urgent case Reeve?"

"We'll discuss it inside. We have others waiting." Reeve replied as he headed into the building.

"Others?" Cloud pondered as they passed through the doors. Before Reeve could answer about the other members, Cloud was assaulted by flailing arms now around his neck.

"Cloud!" The chipper voice resonated in his ears. The young woman hugged him tight, almost choking the air out of him. The blonde pulled her off of him, smiling at the short haired brunette in front of him.

"Nice to see you again Yuffie." Cloud said as he rubbed his throat. "I'm guessing you're part of the case?"

"Yup, yup, yup!" The ever-so-chipper ninja answered. "It's you, me and Vinnie!"

"Vincent is here?" Cloud asked, looking over to Reeve before scouting the whole lobby. There was no sign of the man mentioned.

"Yeah he's upstairs in the room, looking at the paperwork. You know how he is. Once he gets involved it's just busy, busy, busy!" Yuffie said in her chipper tone, however Cloud could tell there was annoyance behind her happy demeanor.

Reeve cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself as he signaled his body towards the stairs. "Perhaps we can get situated so Cloud can also get familiar with the case?" He suggested as he made his way up.

Yuffie nodded and followed suit behind the dark haired man with Cloud not too far behind.

Cloud sighed in relief as they only climbed to the second floor to make it to their room. The ride had been exhausting and he felt like he hadn't slept in days. Nevertheless, he shook off the thoughts of tiredness and sleep before entering the room that was rented out for them.

A swift look around the room, two large beds, a couch, a desk with papers all over it, covering the top of it and at the desk was the man in question looking over the papers as if he was trying to find something hidden in him, his very intense ember-colored eyes almost burning in to the files. Vincent looked different since he became mortal once more. His skin had more color to it than before and he looked tired which he never did when he had his demons, however his intensity was the same.

"Vincent look who we brought!" Yuffie's high pitched voice interrupted, causing the ebony haired man to look up. His lips curled into a very small smile which was all Cloud needed as a greeting.

"So what's going on?" Cloud asked putting his bags down and taking.

"Some of the WRO soldiers discovered an abandoned lab in Junon." reeve began as he took one of the papers from the desk, handing it over to Cloud who looked over some of the details which included a picture of what looked like to be a specimen tube, one Cloud was way too familiar with. The glow from Mako made it hard to see what was inside in the picture but he had a sinking feeling there was a person in there, an experiment left behind after the old ShinRa came down in flames.

Reeve could see that Cloud's expression was trying to hide the horror he was experiencing. He shook his head as he was about to make it worse for the concerned man. "There's a child," Reeve began and Cloud looked up, his composure now fading away. Vincent shifted in his seat and sighed.

"A girl, around 12 years old," Vincent continued, "She's in suspended animation it seems. We haven't touched her yet. We don't know how volatile the situation is." Vincent handed one more picture to Cloud.

"We're just trying to be careful because well..." Yuffie said in a very soft spoken tone. When Cloud took a glance at the picture his eyes widened in shock. The girl was wearing a mask over her face, which he assumed kept her breathing as she was suspended in what looked like a Mako solution. Tubes hooked up to her left and right, keeping her alive, however what really drew him in was her hair, flowing, long, and silver. His experience with people of silver hair was one nightmare after another.

"She's just a little girl though," Yuffie interrupted. "Can she really be that scary?"

"Sephiroth was a child once. He almost destroyed this world." Cloud said fighting the urge to slam the picture on to the desk. "Twice."

"We need to proceed with caution." Reeve instructed, however Cloud interrupted angrily.

"Why proceed at all? Why not just leave her there? Haven't we had enough of this?" He said in a louder tone.

It was quiet save for the shuffling sound of papers as Vincent gathered up the papers in to a neat pile. He understood Cloud's frustration. This case brought back his own reminder of failures. He wouldn't let it happen again.

"That's why we shouldn't leave her." Vincent responded. "We need to make sure it doesn't happen again. She's a child. It's our duty to..."

"It's not though." Cloud interrupted. "It's not our duty."

"After all this time Cloud," Yuffie frowned. "You're giving up? That's not like you."

'I'm just so tired..." He thought to himself. "Tifa needs me to stay. She deserves some stability in her life. I've been dragging her around, saving the world and it's just not fair to her."

The rest of the group looked at each other. Vincent could see it in Cloud's eyes, his exhaustion. He smirked, knowing the feeling for he too felt the same way some days. "One last time." He said breaking the silence. "She's a kid. We can help her in the right direction."

Cloud shook his head, trying not to be selfish. He sighed and nodded in agreement. "Fine. When do we head out?" He asked.

"Tomorrow." Reeve replied. "I want you to go over the file, look at everything. There are missing pieces to her case, we expect to find more once we travel there."

Cloud took the file in to his hands and sighed. "I have to make a phone call. I'll be back."

Walking out the room's door and closing it behind him, Cloud pulled out his cell phone, searching his contacts until he reached Tifa's number. Touching the screen, he commenced a video chat to which she replied quickly.

"Cloud!" She answered happily. She looked paler than usual, which concerned him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" She was lying. "You made it safely. I'm so glad. We miss you already."

"I don't know when I'll be back."

"Oh." He could see the disappointment in her face. It hurt him to see her that way but he was thankful she was so strong and understanding. "Cloud, what's going on? What was so urgent?"

"They found a child, in an abandoned lab in Junon." Cloud paused for a moment. "She may be related to Sephiroth in some way or was infused with his genes. She looks like him."

"Oh my goodness...What are you all going to do about her? Is she safe to work with? What is she like?"

"I don't know. We head out tomorrow."

Tifa took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Are you sure you're ok?" Cloud asked again. She looked so sick he was starting to wonder if he should have stayed home.

"Yes. I'm fine. I have to tell you something though. It's important..."

Before Tifa could speak of her news, Cloud could hear his name being called behind the door. "Tifa, can you tell me later? I promise I'll make time for you and Denzel. I'm sorry."

Tifa sighed but quickly changed her frown to a smile. "Of course. I love you. Stay safe."

"You too." He replied, feeling terrible about hanging up with her.

Cloud walked back inside where Yuffie was the one calling. "We should get some food! I'm starving!" She exclaimed throwing up her arms in a stretch.

"Right..." Cloud said unenthusiastically. He hadn't eaten all day; however, he was not hungry. His thoughts were going wild and food felt like a last priority. He was worried about Tifa. She looked sick and he wasn't sure why he hadn't thought about the possibility before. She was always taking care of everyone else and hardly had time for herself or her health. That was his fault. He had not made time for her, even though he had promised her.