Hi there. Been a while since I wrote and submitted a fanfic, however playing the masterpiece that is FFVII Rebirth has fired up my creative juices again. I'm a huge Cloti fan and absolutely love how the developers have portrayed their relationship in these remakes. A slow-burning romance is just wonderful if it's written correctly, and so far I think they're doing brilliantly with it. Waiting for Part 3 is going to be painful lol.

I'm going to try and write the dialogue in the style of the voicecast (whom IMO are all excellent by the way). My hope is that as a reader you are able to hear the VAs in your head as you go (particularly Tifa, as Britt Baron is just PERFECT in the role).

This story is set just after the party escapes from Junon, regrouping together on the Highwind. Cloud is gone, the meteor is falling and the group is largely at a loss for what to do. Please leave feedback if you would, anything would be appreciated. And apologises in advance for any noticable grammar or spelling mistakes, I type pretty quickly and I'm not great at self-editing.

Chapter 1

Tifa sat on her bunk with her hands on her knees, her mind awash with theories and troubles. It had only been several hours ago that she'd been facing near certain death, strapped down in a chair and being suffocated by poison gas at the orders of Shinra. She had thought that that was it, her fate was decided, and she was to die there, alone and scared. There would be nobody there beside her during her final moments—not her friends, her parents, or even Cloud.

However, either by crazy luck or divine intervention, her story didn't end there in Junon. She had managed to escape from the jaws of death, with not a moment to spare, and now here she was, aboard the world-famous Highwind airship, somehow reunited with all her comrades. Well, most of them, at least.

That moment as she came down from the ship's deck, after her dramatic entry aboard, leaping from Junon's gigantic cannon to join a mightily relieved Barrett (after she'd taken a few hard slaps across her cheeks from Scarlett, of course), was one she wished she could forget. How could she have been as naive as that?

Earlier...

"Come on, everyone's waiting!" Cait Sith had happily declared as he turned and hopped away, heading towards what she now knew was the entrance leading up to the Bridge.

"Everyone? EVERYONE'S HERE?!"

She had rushed after him as quickly as her legs would take her. Just for a few seconds, she had allowed herself to dream that what he'd said was meant to be taken literally. That by "everyone," he had also meant the missing without a trace, Cloud Strife. As she entered and the full room came into her view, she looked around frantically, trying to take in everything and leave nothing unnoticed. She quickly checked off in her head each of her friends as she spotted them.

There was Cid, standing over at the ship's wheel, with someone who she presumed was a member of the crew. Then she noticed Cait, he was over to the left, still atop his giant moogle, close by a set of what looked like control panels. And just ahead of him stood Barret Wallace. He had his back to her, and he appeared to be staring out of one of the ship's large windows, down at the earth far below.

Tifa turned the other way, and now she saw both Vincent and Red (Nanaki). The ex-Turk was leaning against the far wall, his head bowed, and looking as unreadable as he always seemed to be. Red, however, looked over at her, and when their eyes locked, he instantly lit up. He started walking towards her, though she had moved her attention away from him, instead returning to her frantic search to see if her eyes could find a certain someone else. Alas, after a few more seconds of scanning, the sad reality dawned upon her. Cloud wasn't here.

"Tifa," said Nanaki softly as he perched himself down in front of her. "I'm so glad you're okay. We've all been so worried about you!"

Tifa turned back to look at Red. She acknowledged his warm greeting.

"I'm glad you're okay too," she replied, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'm sorry if I caused you or anybody else to be worried. I mean, it did get kind of scary back there."

"You damn right," said Barret's voice now as he came away from the window to join them. "I was scared to death back there. I really thought, for about a minute at least, that everything was all over."

"Aye, but we all got away in the end." Cait Sith chimed in now. "We're all still in good nick, and away from any danger. And for my money, I'd say that's all that matters!"

Barrett turned and gave him a not-so-nice look.

"Dunno what you're sounding all chipper about, cat," he growled. "Nothin' funny about what just happened. I thought Tifa was gone, for sure..."

"It's okay, Barret," said Tifa, trying to diffuse any possible situation.

"You're right about us all somehow being okay," said Nanaki now. "Except for Yuffie, I guess. She's out in Machine Room, trying not to, you know..."

"If that girl throws up on my damn airship, then she can get the 'hell off and walk."

Cid waltzed over to join in the conversation. He exuded a sense of authority that he'd never previously had. Being back in command of his beloved Highwind seemed to have elevated his confidence hugely.

"Now that I got my 'ol girl back, it should make things a heck of a lot easier from now on. Anywhere we need to go, anywhere on the planet, it shouldn't take us more than a few hours at most to get there."

A huge grin spread across his face as he looked over each of his friends, obviously expecting to see similar reactions. Instead, all he saw were downbeat expressions. Cid noticed Tifa in particular, she didn't look at all like she was happy about the huge advantage they now had going for them.

"What's wrong?" he enquired. "Come on now people, you should all be way more excited than that."

Tifa looked downward awkwardly. After a few seconds of awkward silence she let out an answer.

"It's wonderful, Cid, really. It's just... (sigh). There isn't enough crew."

The remark went over his head.

"Hell you mean?" he asked, sounding confused.

A few more excruciating seconds went by.

"Cid..." said Nanaki in a low voice.

"Oh... yeah," he answered, eventually understanding and sounding slightly embarrassed.

Tifa turned and slowly walked away from them. She made her way over towards Vincent, who had remained parked in his spot against the far wall. Barrett huffed and then walked back towards the window he'd previously been looking out of. Cid scratched his stubble awkwardly, then, without a word, turned around to get back to his captain duties. Nanaki just sighed and then dropped his head.

A few minutes later, Tifa decided to walk around and speak to each of her companions one-by-one. She wanted to gauge how each of them was feeling about the situation they found themselves in. She'd briefly engaged Vincent ("So glad that you're safe Tifa, we all feared for you..."), but like usually he wasn't the engaging sort and so she left him be.

First, she decided to talk to Barrett, the friend present whom she had known the longest and gone through so much with, tracing all the way back to Sector 7.

"Hey," she said softly as she joined him by the window.

"Yeah?" he acknowledged, only looking over his shoulder at her.

"So much has happened, hasn't it?" she said. She felt so small right at that moment.

"Yeah it has," he replied. He sighed and turned around to face her fully.

"Look... Tifa, " he began. " I'm sorry about, everythin' that's happened. I mean, it's been a real shitty last few days. But we gotta keep goin' now. The planet needs us, she really ain't got a lot of time left now. So... what I'm sayin is... we ain't got time to spend sittin' around and mopin' over things. Y'hear?"

Tifa didn't answer. She'd heard him fine, but what he'd said caused her to feel even more sadness. She knew that Barrett wouldn't ever say or do anything deliberately to upset her, it was just that she now knew the two of them clearly differed in what they each thought should be the main priority.

An awkward feeling was left in the air. Eventually, after a few seconds, Barrett could stand it no longer.

"Come on... say somethin'."

Tifa managed to gather herself.

"I know exactly what you're saying," she said, trying to to sound amiable. "I guess, we'll all sit down and have to decide what each of us thinks is best thing to do. Okay?"

Barrett grimaced slightly, but eventually agreed.

"Yeah, okay."

With that, Tifa left him and made her over to where Nanaki was. He saw her coming, and so he rose up from where he'd been sitting. It was just a few meters away from the crewman at the wheel.

"How are you feeling about everything?" he asked her before she could say anything.

"Oh, well... I'm... um...".

She spluttered, having been caught off guard by his question. She closed her mouth and her eyes, trying to compose herself to give him a proper answer. However, he again spoke first before she could articulate her thoughts into words.

"I know," he said, his voice sounding very sad. "I really wish we had Cloud here too."

Hearing his name actually said aloud stirred up strong feelings inside of her. The two of them just stood together in silence. The emotion they were both experiencing in that moment could only be described as grief.

"Where do you think he is now?" Nanaki eventually asked.

"I don't know," she answered with her head bowed. "I'd do anything just to know that he's safe."

Nanaki thought for a few moments.

"Maybe he's still in the North Crater?" he suggested, sounding somewhat hopeful. "Perhaps, where the ground cracked and swallowed him up? Buried in the depths of the planet..."

He tailed off awkwardly. It seemed to dawn on him the actual reality of what he was suggesting only as he spoke the words. If Cloud was indeed dragged deep into the underground, then that could only mean one thing for him.

"No," Tifa said, shaking her head emphatically. "That's not where he is. He's alive. Don't ask me how, but, I just know that he is. I can feel it, somehow..."

Nanaki gave her an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, that's right," he told her. "If you can feel him still, then that's gotta be a sign. Never give up hope, Tifa!"

Tifa nodded and managed, a slight smile of her own. Leaving Nanaki to continue thinking things over, she moved on to the next person. That would be Cid.

"Well, hey there," he greeted her. He had been keeping a close eye on the crew member at the wheel, no doubt making sure the nervous-looking fellow didn't do the wrong thing and create a problem.

Cid was a good-hearted man under his gruff exterior, a similarity he shared with Barret, but Tifa still could imagine that working under him on this airship would be a very intimidating prospect, especially for a young crew like the one on-board with them.

"This really is a wonderful ship," she said, trying to sound impressed and make up for her earlier lack of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I've been dreamin' of gettin' her back ever since that day them Shinra bastards came and took my baby for themselves."

"Why did they take it in the first place?" she asked him.

"They wanted her just to clip my wings," he answered with notable derision in his voice. "You see, I started kickin' up a major fuss when they cancelled their whole space program. I mean, they totally pulled plug on all my dreams, and with no notice too. I was so mad, I threatened to break the president's damn legs. The old president, I mean. So, they came and they took away my pride and joy. You see, if you step outta line and stand up for yourself, Shinra gotta smack you down hard 'til you learn your place."

Tifa felt herself warm up a little inside. Despite all his dealings with Shinra, which had continued right up until the time he'd first joined the group, Cid Highwind did indeed hold a personal grudge and deep mistrust of the company. He was as fully invested at seeing its downfall as the rest of them. That was good to know.

"Anyways, how're you holdin' up there, darlin'? I heard that you had it pretty rough back there in Junon, before we high-tailed it."

"I'm okay," Tifa answered. "It's just... nobody is really sure about... about, what we should all do next."

"You mean about the kid?" he asked.

Tifa shyly looked down and placed her hands behind her back. Thankfully, this time Cid was able to read between the lines.

"Gotta admit," he said now. "He really was a strange kinda dude. Just when you thought he was cool, he'd go and do some damn fool thing. And just when you thought he was smart, he'd show you how stupid he really was. I always thought he was kind of odd, from his speech to that crazy look in his eyes he'd get sometimes get. But I did always think that underneath all that weird crap, he had a good heart. That he always thought what he was doin' was the right thing."

Tifa listened and then nodded in agreement. Cid was right, Cloud did make his fair share of mistakes along the way, had kept secrets from them all he ought not to have, but up until the North Crater she personally had never lost faith in him. Even during his manic episodes under Sephiroth's influence, she had never blamed or been angry at him. They had only caused her to want to keep him even closer, to help him break free and defeat whatever hold Sephiroth had over him even more.

Cid continued on after a few moments.

"Now that we know what we know about him, I can see why he was the way he was. Still, he didn't deserve what that damn lab coat subjected him to before the place caved in. I hope wherever he is now, that he's holdin' up alright."

Tifa remained quiet.

"So, whatcha gonna do next? Start looking for him?"

She looked up and tried to answer, but words wouldn't come.

"Yeah," he said with sympathy after a few seconds. "It's a tough one, ain't it? But rest assured, whatever ya'll end up decidin' to do, I want ya to know that me and my guys are gonna be comin' along to help. I couldn't live myself if I just took my ass home now, just 'cause I got the Highwind back. Besides, this 'ol girl needs exercise!"

Tifa gave him an appreciative smile.

"That means so much, Cid, thank you."

Presently...

Tifa was on her bunk, unable to settle her thoughts, so therefore, trying to rest at all was out of the question for her. Everybody else was scattered around the airship, doing their own thing. After she'd finished talking with Cid earlier, it was suggested to everyone that they all take a couple of hours to themselves, then they'd all convene together in the ship's Operations Room for a group meeting.

Tifa knew what she wanted to express in this meeting once it began. She wanted to find Cloud. For her, there was nothing else anywhere close to as important as that. Cloud was the person who meant the most to her in the world. Yes, she knew that the meteor was approaching and that soon it would hit the planet, causing possibly worldwide extinction. Also, the Weapons were on the surface now, and were causing chaos and destruction everywhere they went. Sephiroth, now had the Black Materia, meaning he could re-emerge fully at any moment, reaking his barbaric wrath on many innocent people. But Tifa couldn't manage to focus her mind on any of that. All she could think about was how, to her, a world where she was forced to live without Cloud, it wasn't a world she wanted to stay around and live in.

She kept replaying over in her head that scene in the North Crater, when she'd last been together with him. How he'd pleaded at the feet of Professor Hojo, like a desperate child, just to be given a number. Then of how the evil maniac had treated him with such scorn, deriding Cloud as nothing but a "miserable failure." How he'd explained that Cloud wasn't even a real person, merely a Sephiroth clone he'd created in a lab a few years previously. Cloud himself, seemed to actually confirm this claim, telling her how sorry he was and how he hoped that one day she'd get to meet "the real Cloud".

She'd collapsed in devastation, so distraught at what was being revealed that she didn't even realise that the entire place was coming down. Or perhaps she had realised? Perhaps she knew death was approaching and, in her despair, decided that she didn't care. Only Yuffie forcefully dragging her to her feet and Barrett then carrying her away had saved her from being buried alive right there under all the rubble.

Despite everything, Tifa was sure that Cloud had not perished there either. She had no proof of this; he'd suddenly vanished after Hojo refused to engage with him any further, but something deep inside of her convinced her that he was still alive. Cloud, if anything about him ever proved to be true, was a true survivor.

Tifa couldn't bring herself to believe, no matter what had happened, that the man she'd been traveling with all this time wasn't the real Cloud. The same Cloud she'd grown up with, in their quiet village, the same Cloud who followed her up Mt. Nibel as children to protect her, the same Cloud who'd promised her he'd come and save her from trouble, if she ever needed it.

Ever since their reunion in the Sector 7 slums, where she'd found him randomly at the train station, she had known there was something seriously amiss with him. His memories were all over the place, his behaviour had often been confusing, and his personality was so noticeably different to the one she recalled him having, back during their childhood.

However, there were also things that undoubtedly pointed toward the fact that he was indeed the same person. Despite his badly off-base recollections, about some things, there were also events from Nibelheim he remembered perfectly. He remembered Claudia, his wonderful, loving mother, to whom he bore a striking resemblance. He remembered Brian Lockhart, Tifa's beloved late father, and how he'd disliked Cloud, based on a tragic misunderstanding. And he'd remembered Emilio, one of her friends, whose family owned the general store in the village. And, of course, Cloud remembered their promise. The one they'd made at the Water Tower, under a beautiful night's sky, shortly before he departed for Midgar.

If Cloud were merely a human artificially created in a labratory, how could he possess those memories? Hojo had certainly known none of these details. could have implanted them; it was just impossible.

Tifa didn't know what the truth was, perhaps she'd never know, however, she was convinced that right now Cloud, wherever he was, needed her more than ever before. Writing him off, like perhaps some of the others had already done, was absolutely not a consideration for her.

"MEETING IN THE OPERATION'S ROOM IN FIVE MINUTES" came Cid's voice over the ship tannoy now.

Tifa finally stood up and headed towards the door. She was determined not to be late and keep anyone else waiting. She made her way through the ship's inner decks (desperately hoping she wouldn't get herself lost) and continued trying to think about how, exactly, she was going to explain her feelings to the others. This was the sort of thing she'd never been good at, opening up in front of a group of people.

Tifa really wished Aerith were here. Her late friend had been someone who seemingly inspired others without even trying. Aerith was such a great speaker, but she'd also been a fantastic listener and advisor. The florist would've known exactly what to tell Tifa to make her feel better right about now.

Tifa navigated around a corner, and another friend came into her view. It was the ninja from Wutai, the youngest member of their party, who had been absent from the Bridge earlier.

Yuffie was hunched over and leaning against a large container. She looked as if she were fighting the urge to throw up. Tifa rushed over to offer her assistance.

"Still feeling bad?" she asked, leaning down and placing her hand softly on Yuffie's back.

"Why couldn't we have escaped on a boat?" Yuffie whined in answer. She coughed, but nothing came up, and eventually she managed to stand herself back up straight. Tifa took her by the hand to help keep her steady.

"Come on, we'll head to the meeting room together. It's bound to be much more comfortable in there than it is out here."

"You better be right, Tifa."

A few minutes later...

Everyone was seated around a large table. The Operations Room was indeed a lot less bumpy than in other places on the airship, meaning Yuffie was able to compose herself (though she still leant back in her seat with a slight sulky look) and participate. She was sitting next to Tifa on the right, whereas on her other side was Cait Sith. Opposite them were Barrett, Red and Vincent, respectively. Cid was at the head of the table, as was to be expected since he was officially the ship's captain. Ironically, there were two seats left that were both empty, on either side, at the foot of the table.

"OKAY THEN!" boomed Cid. "I officially declare this meetin'... OPEN."

He accompanied that last word by banging his palm down on the table.

"So, who wants to speak first?" he asked of them all.

After a few seconds, his invitation was accepted.

"Me," said Barret. He was wearing his sunglasses now, and he stood up to address them all. Everybody listened in to what he had to say.

"Shit's going off," he declared, sounding as serious as he ever had before. "The planet's in worse danger than she's ever been in before. In fact, she's actually on the brink, now. And the only people who can do anything to save her, is us."

The group remained silent, He carried on.

"We've taken a hell of an ass-whoppin,' these last few days. But we sure as hell ain't beaten, not yet. Now, we gotta hit back and hit back strong. I say that we rig this damn airship out, then turn her around and head to take on those Weapons, all guns' blazin'."

"WHAT?!" spluttered Cid, who stood up in indignation. "YOU MEAN USE MY AIRSHIP TO FIGHT THOSE GIANT MONSTERS?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME?!"

"Well, you got any better ideas?!" Barret replied shortly.

The two argued back and forth for about a minute as everybody else just listened. Tifa, who had been summoning up her courage, eventually chose to take this moment to speak up.

"I know what I'm going to do," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. The group turned to look at her, including Cid and Barret who stopped their argument. Tifa took a deep breath, and then she just let her words pour out.

"I'm going to look for Cloud. I can't just forget, and I can't focus on anything else until I see him again, and I know that he's safe. I... I need to talk to him. I need to know, I have to find out what the truth about everything really is."

She let her words hang in the air, waiting until someone addressed them. Surprisingly, it was Vincent who actually spoke next.

"If that's what your heart tells you, Tifa," he said dryly. "Obviously Cloud means so much to you. If you want to search, I would not object."

Barret's face now bore a real frown.

"We don't have no damn idea where he is," he said, sounding very frustrated. "And even if we did, how do we know he'd even come back and be any help? Hell, I remember the fact that we actually got along without him before. He ain't the be all and end all."

"But the truth is," said Red now speaking up. "The truth is that if we do try to fight the Weapons, or Shinra, or Sephiroth, to try and protect the planet, that without Cloud, we probably aren't strong enough to win. He was the difference in so many of the battles we've all had to face."

Cait Sith decided to chime in too.

"Aye, that's right, my furry pal. It's not that I don't wannae fight exactly, it's just, I don't wannae fight when our best man ain't about to help. No sense in dyin' in a fight we know cannae win ahead of time."

Barret, sensing he was losing the argument, decided not to press his point of view any further. He sat back down and growled to himself, as he often did when annoyed about something. Tifa, meanwhile, decided to ask Yuffie for her opinion.

"Yuffie, what do you want to do?"

"I'll never understand Cloud," she answered in an almost bored tone. "I mean, that guy's a freakin' enigma, regardless of who or what he is. But, if you think finding him is the best way we can save Wutai... and er... everywhere else, well then, I don't have any problem us lettin' him back in."

Tifa nodded appreciatively. She turned and decided to stand up herself now, ready to give the final part of her speech.

"I'm not asking any of you to come with me. Everybody should do what they think is the best thing. There's no right or wrong answer. It's just, until I find him, I can't... I wouldn't... (sigh). I'd be no use to anyone who wants to go and fight."

Tifa sat back down in her seat and shyly brought her hands together. She hated making herself the centre of attention like that. But she had managed to express what she wanted to convey to her friends, and, miraculously, seemed to have won the majority of them to her cause. She knew Aerith, if she were here, would be supremely proud of her, and would want to give her a high-five in private.

"So now," said Cid from the front. "I guess we know what our next mission is. Where exactly is it that ya'll want to head too?"

"Back to the Crater, maybe?" suggested Nanaki, somewhat feebly.

"No," said Vincent in response. "There is no way back inside of there now. Sephiroth has constructed a forcefield, barring all entry."

"How about we all head to Wutai?" Yuffie piped up. "Yeah, I can introduce you all to the Viceroy. Our government is desperate to take on Shinra. We can show 'em all our Materia, and maybe they can give us something we can use, something that might help us fight.

"Not that I wouldnae' mind seein' Wutai for myself one day," said Cait Sith answering her. "But come on lass, I seriously doubt that Cloud will hangin' about there of all places. An' the fellas who run the place, Wutai, do yer really think they've got any sort of weapon that would be good against Sephiroth?"

Yuffie scowled at him.

"Oh yeah, I should have remembered, we're traveling around with a Shinra lap... cat,".

"Hey now!" Cait shot back. "I've proven myself so many times over now, haven't I?"

"Calm down you guys, we'll get nowhere arguing," interjected Nanaki. He placed his front paws up upon the table and adopted his former voice, the one he'd used originally upon meeting them. He always pulled it back out whenever he wanted to sound especially intellectual.

"If we can't go back to the Northern Crater, or back to Junon, or to Midgar, then perhaps we should go back Cosmo Canyon, to see my grandfather?"

Everybody turned to look at him with fixed eyes, so he made a passionate attempt to justify his suggestion.

"I know that you all might be thinking that I bring up my home for selfish reasons. But no, I suggest visiting the Canyon because of its remote location. Shinra are unlikely to look for us there. And perhaps my grandfather will know something that can help us. About the meteor, or about the Weapons. He has such a vast array of knowledge, about all subjects related to the planet. It's worth a try, don't you think?"

"I mean, that sounds like a good suggestion to me!" agreed Cait.

"Yeah, okay," said Yuffie. "As long as we can get there fast. I don't wanna be stuck on this dirty, floating truck for so long that I barf all my insides up."

Vincent merely nodded his approval. Barrett snorted, though he did audibly mutter; "Fine."

Tifa nodded too. She knew they almost certainly wouldn't find Cloud there, but Red's reasoning for going made sense. Bugenhagen knew more of the planet's secrets than anybody else in the world; surely he'd have some information that could help them in regards to the overall situation. Whether or not it would help to locate Cloud, she was unsure, but they had to start somewhere.

"Alrighty then!" declared Cid standing back nd holding up his fist. "I'll head on up back to the Bridge and tell the boys to set a course. Cosmo Canyon it is."

That's it for Chapter 1. More will be coming soon. :)