Nanaki's reddish orange fur blew in the wind as his two cubs Janka and Danako ran quickly behind him through the barren fields of Cosmo Canyon. The years had passed slowly, but 3 years came and passed then finally Deneh came out of her stasis state. Nanaki was so happy to see her again that both left the village and no one knew where they went for seven days. On the eighth day they returned refreshed and renewed. More years have passed since then and Deneh bore Nanaki a litter of pups, one male and one female. The natural high that now having a family brought to both Nanaki and Deneh was greater than anything they had ever experienced.
"If only grandfather was still here" Nanaki thought as he dashed across a vast field.
The trio were on their way to pay Seto tribute for the ultimate sacrifice he made to protect their home. Nanaki's mind also was on Cobalt-XIV and Indigo XV. Nanaki had pleaded to Cloud and friends to spare them in their last encounter after they had defeated them in battle.
"So mercy it is?" Indigo XV said after they had tracked the party just below the Northern Crater.
"Yes, we may have different ideas, but you are still my kin no matter how either of you were created" Nanaki spoke up.
"So you would risk having us come after you again?" Cobalt XIV said grudgingly looking at Nanaki with his mechanical red eye.
"What shall we do? Where shall we go? We have no home, our existence is fabricated" Indigo XV slowly stood up as he began licking his wounds as his light violet fur tussled in the cold breeze.
"When both of you are ready to move on with your grudge against me and my friends, I shall welcome you to my home and it will become yours as well" Nanaki said casually.
"I am not ready to forgive just yet... but in time, I may be willing to do so..." Cobalt XIV finally stood up on all fours raising his head showing his blue fur proudly.
"I will continue to follow my brother here until such a time arrives" Indigo echoed the sentiment. "I will wish you and your friends good fortune with your upcoming battle to save this planet"
"Thank you my kindred, until our paths cross again, may you both find what you seek" Nanaki nodded. Cloud and the rest of the party stood back and allowed Nanaki to finish their farewells until both the violet and blue furred creatures that looked like him decided to disappear into the desolate fields of snow.
"Father!" a younger voice snapped Nanaki back to the present.
"What is it Janka?"
"We are here" Danako pointed his nose towards the cliffs.
"Of course" Nanaki said leading them up into the cliffs near the vantage point where his father and kin had battled the Gi tribe until they reached the statue that was his father. The trio sat quietly below with their eyes closed meditating deep in their own thoughts.
"Your grandfather fought bravely so we could have a future" Nanaki stood up finished with his meditations.
"He must have been a great warrior" Danako looked on proudly.
"Yeah, I wonder what he would say now" Janka remarked.
"We have a legacy to carry on for him, and now your mother eagerly awaits our return, let us not keep her waiting much longer" Nanaki announced as he led his cubs back to Cosmo Canyon village proper.
Denzel, Marlene, and Betty raced down the Kalm/Midgar highway. It had been repaved and the city of Edge and town of Kalm periodically clean the road of debris. The expanse for the first 40 miles from Midgar was a bit like a wasteland. Old factories, old pipes that used to carry mako, and junk vehicles that have been abandoned for years littered the sides of the highway. A small group of motor bikes would zoom on past them from behind or coming from the opposite direction or an occasional truck. Once they reached ten miles outside of Midgar, they began seeing hints of vegetation beginning to return.
"I'm sure Aerith would be happy to see the planet is slowly recovering" Marlene mused as she gazed out the passenger's window.
"I've heard Tifa, Barret, and Cloud talk so much about Aerith, I feel like I know her but yet..." Denzel trailed off as he drove.
"I only got to meet her briefly when I was a little girl, but she seemed to have a spirit like a unicorn" Betty smiled.
"After she cured you and the rest of the children of geostigma, she returned to the lifestream with her first love Zack" Marlene remembered.
"I've only heard Cloud mention Zack a couple of times since we became a family. Once when he and I stopped at the cathedral for a break and the other when he gave me this sword"
"Tifa and the Turks have been the only ones I have heard anything about Zack. Tifa has only had good things to say about him; once the story of what actually happened in Cloud's hometown was finally revealed" Marlene agreed.
"The Turks, Soldier, Rufus... there's still a lot that I don't understand" Betty chimed in.
"Cloud tries to deal with Rufus and the Turks as little as possible, he still has trust issues with them. Since Velde and Felicia came out of hiding in Kalm years back according to dad, the rest of the Turks returned starting a charity organization to help those who were homeless or just needed work" Marlene explained.
"Rufus and Tseng still kind of rub me the wrong way, but even people who have done bad deeds in the past deserve a second chance if they truly seek redemption; however, his younger brother Evan and his wife seem a bit more 'trustable' ".
"Both of you know so much about everyone else and what happened before and after meteor-fall. The only Turk I ever met then was during meteor-fall. She was slim with very plain looks. Her dark short hair and unkempt uniform, she called herself Knife. She led a large group of us out of Midgar. I was very frightened, but she had a way of putting a smile on my face reassuring me that everything would be fine as she organized us into vehicles which took us to Kalm" Betty recalled.
"Yeah, those were dark times" Denzel agreed.
"But even in the darkest of times, a ray of hope or a single flower can clear the air" Marlene added.
As the three continued to converse, the time passed quickly and before they knew it, they had arrived at the fork in the road that led to Kalm which they could see not far in the distance, and the other road which led to Chocobo Bill's farm and a few other hamlets that thrived out in the countryside.
"Almost two hours" Marlene sighed in relief.
"You have the address where we pick up the crates?" Denzel asked as he navigated their way to the entrance to Kalm.
"Here is is" Marlene took out and unfolded a piece of paper. "It says we go in and take the second left then the third right"
"Wow! The houses and streets here look so nice, I forgot how neat it is" Betty marveled.
"Don't get your expectations of this town too high yet, Kalm has its own issues with crime" Denzel warned remembering a time he and Cloud were ambushed during a delivery.
"Maybe it's changed?" Betty shrugged as they slowly followed the directions. The roads in Kalm began to get more narrow the deeper they went in.
"Maybe..." was all Denzel could say as he made the last right.
"This small warehouse on the corner has to be it" Marlene pointed. The red brick building was just a bit taller than the Tudor style houses on the same street which ended in a cul-de-sac. The houses looked a bit run down and one looked completely abandoned.
"I'd imagined that all the real estate here would be filled with a waiting list ten miles long the moment someone decides to leave" Betty commented seeing the houses.
"You would think since monster attacks almost never happen here but..." Marlene stopped short as Denzel parked in front of the warehouse until a huge bay door began to open. Two tall men in suits and fedor hats came out and stood like sentinels with glasses despite very little sunlight.
"It's those same guys again who look like Turks" Marlene pointed out.
"You two stay inside, I'll go talk to them. This is the address?"
"Afraid so..." Marlene double checked as Denzel got out.
"These two look mega sketchy" Betty said with a bit of apprehension.
"It's all part of the job, as long as we state our business hopefully we'll be fine and out of here" Marlene tried to reassure Betty.
Back at Seventh Heaven, Cloud arrived after finishing the small job he was called out on. He walked in wearing a pair of blue coveralls sporting a blond goatee. Tifa looked up a bit surprised to see him as she was behind the bar. Cloud too was surprised to see Barret come out of the kitchen wearing an apron and Yuffie serving the customers sitting at the tables. Tifa was engaged with a customer at the bar as Cloud acknowledged her and walked back to the kitchen.
"Hey soldier man, what's new?" Barret welcomed Cloud.
"Just living the dream, decided to take a day off and help us?"
"Not exactly, the kids got a call for your business and coincidentally, Yuffie came as well so Tifa asked us if we could help for a few"
"The kids got a call?" Cloud quickly went upstairs to his office and looked at the order pad he usually used. The top page was gone, and the yellow carbon copy was no where to be seen except the lite pink copy. He examined the address and what was to be delivered and began to remembered something important. He snatched the pink copy and raced down stairs.
"Leaving already?" Tifa asked as Cloud quickly came out of the lobby heading for the door.
"Something's not right about these addresses, got to get to Kalm and figure this out" Cloud finished following his gut feeling.
"What do you mean?" Tifa asked a bit worried kind of already knowing she should have questioned the kids a bit more.
"One address is in Kalm and the second destination of the merchanise is 'somewhere up in the crags?' I'll be back as soon as I can" Cloud quickly disappeared not even noticing Yuffie serving a table. Cloud quickly jumped on his new improved Fenrir and zoomed to the Kalm highway.
"He never changes!" Yuffie exclaimed. Marle came downstairs carrying baby Aerith as Tifa could only shrug but she trusted Cloud's judgement. "He'd better bring back some materia" Yuffie joked.
