"Shinra announced major advances in the campaign against terrorism in Wutai. After months of standstill, sources on the ground have reported the capture of two strategically important bridges in mid Wutai.

We are now joined by our senior war correspondent Anabelle Lee and by our expert commentator in the studio, retired colonel Theodore Blakely. Let's start with Colonel Blakely- thank you for joining us on air. In light of the new developments at the front, can you tell us just how crucial these bridges are to the Shinra advance?

"Thank you for having me on air…"

II. Reviving Connections

Zack Fair whistled lightheartedly as he marched toward the Materia Development Room. One hand held his phone, where he was attempting to text (unsuccessfully) his long time friend Kunsel, while the other hand swinging loosely at his side grasped a thin manila folder with a small stack of forms.

Kunsel, naturally, had all the good Shinra scuttlebutt that Zack needed to catch up on after a week-long retreat to the Midgar wastelands on a monster hunting spree (so-called mission) with Angeal who came back from Wutai looking completely spent. Normally, Zack had an extreme allergic reaction to any form of company paperwork. However, since these forms were the paperwork that allowed him access to materia, he was not gonna complain at all, no sir!

The door to the Materia Room slid open with a compliant hiss and Zack blinked at the interesting sight. The many times he had stepped foot in this room with Angeal, this stereotypical Shinra science squint greeted him with round coke-bottom glasses that had these nerdy side shields to them to double as safety glasses, mousy brown hair that was constantly disheveled, and heavy lines on his brow from too many hours staring at a microscope. Zack didn't even know why the guy put so much time on the microscope - he studied rocks for goodness sakes!

Instead, a young blond kid who looked like he was barely of legal working age sat behind the desk, a thick textbook open in front of him as he silently mouthed words to himself, an orange highlighter in one hand, and the other pulling at his spiky blond locks.

Zack hoped he was imagining it, but he could have sworn that the kid's toes barely touched the ground as he swung his feet back and forth idly and flipped the page.

"Ahem…" Zack coughed quietly when he realized that the boy was not going to acknowledge him anytime soon. "Aheeeeem…."

When Zack thought he was going to finally fake cough a lung out, he was greeted with owlish blue eyes that were framed by the thick rimmed glasses the boy wore, wide with surprise on a boyish face. They stared at each other – Zack in amusement and the boy in confusion. The glasses only served to make the boy, whose lanky frame was almost swimming in his one-size-fits-all lab coat, look very awkward and gangly indeed.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I was just so absorbed in my book…can I get you anything, sir..."

"Ah, I'm Zack." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Sorry to, like, totally startle you. Is your dad around?"

Zack was treated to an incredulous stare. The blond opened his mouth a few times but no words came out the first three tries.

"Oh, ummm…What? Who?" he finally sputtered, voice cracking a little.

Open mouth, insert foot. Goddammit, Zack! Way to go! Then Zack winced internally again, because puberty was a bitch.

"Um, the doctor that usually works here." Zack backpedaled clumsily.

"Oh! Doctor Zalinka! He's out sick today." At this the blond stood up and walked around the desk, stopping short in front of the Third Class Soldier and extending a hand. Zack quickly realized that the bo- young man - had a name tag pinned to the right lab coat pocket displaying a slightly bleached out mug shot of mostly blond hair and the name STRIFE across the bottom of the picture. A tag that was given to all Shinra employees and doubled as a keycard and meal swipe. Oh. Oops.

"Um…"

Zack quickly grasped the offered and previously neglected hand, pumping it twice vigorously.

"Sorry! I'm Zack Fair, Third Class Soldier Extraordinaire!" He introduced himself with a grin, "Sorry about earlier. I was just kinda expecting the other guy so I guess I was being real rude to you, huh?"

The lab tech smiled wanly back at him. "It's alright, Mr. Fair, Sir. I'm actually kinda used to that. My name is Cloud. I am Dr. Zalinka's assistant. Since he is sick today, I'm supposed to be in charge of the materia requests…so…um ..." He gestured to Zack's occupied hand. Cloud has a faint backwater drawl that Zack could relate to, but feeling like he had antagonized the kid enough for one day, he refrained from commenting. Angeal must have really hammered tact in better than Zack thought possible.

"Hey! Call me Zack, man. Ah, yeah. I have the paperwork here," Zack said, offering up his folder, "Requisition Form for Class E Materia. And…oh, here." He dug out his employee identification badge, which mirrored Cloud's except that it read SOLDIER THIRD CLASS instead of SCIENCE DEPT: STUDENT next to the name and picture.

Cloud glanced through the paperwork and then shuffled back to the desk, tapping a few keys on his computer. At some prompt on the screen, he swiped Zack's ID through the card reader.

"Everything seems to be in order Mr.F- I mean, Zack." Cloud returned the badge to Zack. "Which materia would'ya like? Um…Class E allows you the basic damage materia, unmastered. That includes….Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Quake."

"Aw, damn! I wanted awesome ones, like Comet or something!" That finally got a chuckle out of the blond.

"Sorry, that's what you're allowed. Standard Soldier kit." Cloud reassured, "Maybe the higher-ups are afraid you will blow somethin' sky high?" Zack opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it when he realized that explosions are actually kind of a plausible fear around him.

"Fine…I'll take Fire! Then I can blow shit up anyway!" Zack and Cloud shared a chuckle.

"Well, the form says you're allowed two. So…which other one?"

Zack hesitated. "Um….I actually didn't think that far, haha…. I kind of just ran here after I got the form, 'cause, I was way excited!"

"Oh," Cloud frowned a little, wrinkling his brow and the bridge of his straight nose while tilting his head in a way that reminded Zack strongly of a baby chocobo. Those ones that just hatched, looked really confused, and are a bit bald. Okay, maybe not that last one. "Maybe Quake?" He quickly held his hands up in a defensive gesture, as if he could physically defend against whatever reprisal Zack may have. "I don't really know much about how Soldiers would use it, but I think it could be useful…"

"How so?" Zack was honestly curious about Cloud's suggestion.

"Um, unlike the other ones, Quake is kind of like…area of effect. It'll hit everything in a small radius, so even at a low level and without All materia attached, it can hit multiple enemies. Unless you are using it against flying monsters, or in a really urban area – please don't do that in the building- it could be really useful. Not that I know….or anything…." Cloud's speech petered out and he looked down, embarrassed.

"Whoa, hey! You know a lot!" Zack whistled appreciatively. "Yeah, I'll take that one then."

Cloud nodded. "Ja, give me a second." He walked across the room around the three strange machines that all had signs taped to them that had Dr. Zalinka's handwriting scrawled across ("Experimental! Do Not Touch! That means you!") and swiped his card through another reader. The wall swung open to a series of drawers and Cloud withdrew two round green crystals barely bigger than glass marbles. "You have slots, right?" He asked as he filled out another form on the computer, registering Zack as withdrawing the materia.

"Yep!" Zack raised an arm that had a titan bangle. Cloud handed the spheres over.

"Don't lose them!" Zack laughed.

"Thank you, my kind sir!" He slotted them gently into his new bracer. "Sorry, I'd love to stay and chat more, but I kinda have to run. Angeal can be a real mean taskmaster if I'm late." Cloud nodded and returned to his seat. Zack felt wrong leaving it like this, however. Cloud clearly wasn't posted in the lab full time, so Zack didn't know when he'd run into the kid again. Plus, he felt like they hit it off.

"Um…before I go, I'm dying to ask you one question."

Cloud looked at him expectantly.

"Are you from the countryside?" A nod. "Where?"

"Nibelheim." Zack laughed. Cloud frowned a little though it looked more like a childish pout.

"You?"

"Me? Gongaga!" Cloud laughed as well, his eyes sparkling as he did.

"Hey!" Zack put his hands on his hips as if in disapproval, though it seemed Cloud realized he was only joking. "Are you laughing? You are, aren't you? Do you even know Gongaga?"

"No…but it sounds very country-like."

"Hmph. Well, Nibelheim too. I've never been there, but there's a mako reactor right? A reactor outside Midgar means-"

"Nothing else out there." Cloud chorused with him, his light rural accent coming out a bit heavier. They both shared a laugh again.

"I'll see you around, Cloudy!" Zack yelled back as he headed into the hallway. The door slid shut on Cloud's answer of "Oi, don't call me that!" Zack chuckled to himself as he strode down the hall of the Soldier floor. He lifted his arm to admire his new equipment as he turned the corner and almost smacked right into a wall.

"Whoa! Good morning Angeal!"

Angeal Hewley, now also known as the Wall, raised an unimpressed dark brow at his protégé, also known as the Puppy. When Zack will learn more situational awareness, Angeal will never know. "You are late. I came to find you."

Zack made a face that approximated a pleading pup and held up his left arm to show two materia slotted into his bracer. "I got materia, Angeal!"

Angeal sighed a weary sigh that he had perfected around Genesis and was using more frequently now that he had taken Zack on as an apprentice of sorts. "I dreaded the day you would get materia, and now it's here too soon. Well, what did you get?"

"Um, Fire and Quake."

"Wonderful. One to knock the building down and the other to set it on fire. I must have a chat with Dr. Zalinka for daring to let you walk out of his lab with potential for explosions and wanton destruction of public property. What was he thinking?" Angeal asked with amused sarcasm.

"Nah, his assistant took over today. Really nice kid."

Angeal snorted softly at Zack. "Must have been very nice to let you walk away with those two. Or just doesn't know you at all."

"Hey!" Zack protested.

"Don't 'hey' me, puppy. Go run through the Midgar plains simulation before Sephiroth and Genesis get here." Zack puffed up his cheeks impetuously but grumpily stomped into the VR room.

Angeal huffed, amused, and followed Zack to the training room. He reminded himself - Zack was only sixteen and mostly untested by war. After more than seven years, the campaign had turned into one of attrition with ceasefires in between fierce combat, and when it became clear the war wouldn't draw to a quick conclusion Shinra diverted the majority of Soldiers elsewhere leaving mostly conscripts at the front.

Ten minutes later, six o'clock on the dot, Sephiroth glided into the observation area of the VR room with Genesis beside him. Sephiroth gave Angeal a nod good morning while Genesis airily remarked, "-ut really, Sephiroth, I hardly think your cyberterrorist is necessarily targeting you. Most feared General of the Shinra Army? Perish the thought. They would probably quiver in their pajamas when they realize who they hacked."

Angeal frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, good morning Angeal." Genesis twisted to lean a shoulder against the glass wall and monitored the screen that was currently showing Zack fighting against a wild chocobo of all things, "Sephiroth was just informing me of a security breach. Someone hacked into his computer. Whoever he is, the interloper must have covered his tracks well if the Turks still haven't figured out what was accessed."

Angeal crossed his arms over his chest. "Not so well that they didn't notice," Angeal commented. Turning to Sephiroth, he asked, "No leads?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Nothing concrete. I will find out when there is. Also, I currently have no mobile device. If you need to contact me, you will have to call my office phone." He then stopped and considered. "Veld has updated me on the current situation this morning. They have questions as to why I was the target."

"Well, that should be obvious, shouldn't it?" Genesis interjected, "As the general, you would have top secret files and the highest access clearance."

"While that's true," Angeal disagreed absently, as he observed Zack wrapping up the last monsters, "Sephiroth would only have limited access. What could they possibly be after?"

"Unfortunately, my computer is connected directly to the Shinra central servers." Sephiroth corrected. "It provides access to many other departments. My office is also more accessible than the labs."

Shinra's three most powerful Soldiers stewed in an uneasy silence. It didn't sit well at all with Angeal that one of his friends was being targeted somehow, even if said friend was one of the strongest and most decorated at Shinra. Just what kind of fool would sneak into Sephiroth's office?

"Well, at least they finally gave up the idea of giving you a secretary," Genesis said. Sephiroth had been requesting a proper aide headcount instead but mysteriously, the company never complied. Maybe now he can find some assistance that wouldn't be a security concern.

The door to the training room slid open and Zack rushed out, headset in one hand and standard issued blade in the other.

"Angeal, did you see that cool combo I did? Huh? Huh? I did good, right? Right?"

"It is 'I did well', Zack. And we need to improve your footwork. Very sloppy." Angeal instructed Zack to cool down while the other two firsts made for the now unoccupied room.

Elena looked around the classroom at the forty-some-odd cadets, a handful of third class Soldiers in make-up classes, and a few Academy students that stood in rows facing a wall of targets in the thirty second floor facility.

The classroom was split into two sides. On one side along the windows, rows of long desks that had black heat resistant countertops and two chairs to a table were arranged in military precision. On the other, as far away from the windows as possible, stood a line of targets on a steel backed wall. The scorch-marked and pockmarked wall told stories of all the inept classes it had endured.

Elena snorted. It was their first lecture. No way they were going to get to play around with materia like that. It would be lucky if they even got to touch one. Instead, she looked around at the empty seats and selected one furthest away from the crowd milling about.

The desk was already occupied by a boy in the coat of a lab tech, who had ignored the entire class and was instead staring blankly out into the gray morning sky that was Midgar's weather all the time. Thankfully, he hadn't breathed a word to her and had essentially ignored her for the past five minutes.

This suited Elena just fine.

Elena distantly recalled that Shinra did have a work study program, since the boy would be much too young to be a full time Science Department lackey.

Aside from the students and a few guards to keep an eye on the materia storage, the floor was empty. For safety, any class scheduled was given a wide berth for fear of accidents that might occur from improper materia use. They really should be given a wide berth, too. Most cadets can't aim to save their own hides.

The class filled up quickly after that and then the instructor, wearing the uniform of a Second Class Soldier. Must be a beach rotation.

Their instructor gave a lecture on different types of materia. He demonstrated by casting a well-aimed fire spell at one of the targets, marking the bull's-eye with a black scorch mark. The class ohh'd and ahh'd. The blond was still paying no attention.

Then, unmastered fire materia were passed along to them from a storage crate. Instead of asking them to aim, which the instructor admitted was probably out of the range of first-timers, they were asked to be seated and small piles of kindling were set in front of them.

"The most you'll get is probably a spark right now," the instructor had said, "But try to light a fire. This is the only lesson you get on materia use until you get promoted to third class or the equivalent and is an important survival skill, too." It was meant to show how difficult using materia is since new recruits should not know how yet. Elena, having some guidance from her older sister, was taking this class only to fulfill one of the many training requirements that would allow her to be a probationary Turk.

After all, she can't have her older sister show her up forever. Elena and her sister did not see eye to eye on this, and many other things.

Most of the class were trained cadets, each tall and muscular. Real meat heads, Elena thought with disgust. The ability to use materia had nothing to do with physical condition, she thought with pride. Rather, it was from experience, a strong will, and even a bit of genetics. She has all three, even though she did not have as much experience as she would like. After all, stealing her sister's Cure to practice on did not go unnoticed for very long when the sister in question was a damn good Turk. …And maybe she only got a few green sparks…not even enough to heal a paper cut….

Staring at the crystalline orb in her hand, she frowned. Damn, how did this go again?

"Come on…come on…come on! You stupid thing!" She growled at it under her breath.

Someone chuckled next to her and she saw that his pile was already smoking.

Oh come on. He wasn't even watching the demonstration!

The nasty retort on her tongue was swallowed when she realized the boy looked a little shy and a lot contrite. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you." The blond answered her look. The blond now looked a little concerned that he had offended Elena in some way. Well, he should have kept his humor to himself, Elena thought uncharitably. The other boy just smiled indulgently.

"I'm Cloud," He introduced himself, "I'm in mako sciences. You are…?"

"Uh, oh. Elena. And don't think you are better than me just because you can cast a bit of magic, mister!" It made sense though that the boy was ahead of the curve on this. He works with materia as part of his studies. Cloud shook his head.

"I wouldn't dream of it, promise."

"Good," Elena sniffed.

"Heya, if you don't mind me asking though," Cloud said as he fanned his little pile of straw into flames absently, "What were you thinking when you were tryin' to focus?"

"Huh? That's easy! I keep trying to tell this thing to set on fire-" Cloud giggled. Elena thought it was a surprisingly nice laugh. It was really clear, and drew the corners of his lips up, narrowing his eyes so only parts of the blue irises showed. The brilliant blue and long lashes weren't distorted at all by his lens but the thick frames detracted from the entire image. Elena got the feeling that her bench mate didn't really laugh much at all because if he did and got rid of those hideous glasses, she was sure he would have lots of female attention instead of looking so damn awkward. Catching herself on that thought, Elena was left feeling a little embarrassed and hit Cloud none-too-gently on the arm.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me!"

"Ja," Cloud said, wiping a tear of mirth away and knocking his glasses slightly askew. He straightened them back on his nose while explaining, "I just hope you weren't thinking at it the way you talk to me. It doesn't know what to do with that." This kid is weird, Elena decided, talking like a piece of stone is sentient.

"Well if you know so much…"

"Just… you need to picture the result. I don't know why instructors are always teaching it wrong, but materia aren't like guns."

"Uh…" Elena pouted. She didn't want to listen to Cloud's coaching, but she also didn't want to fail at lighting it, like all the musclebrained cadets in the class. Besides…Cloud said he was in the science department. That had to mean he knows stuff like this, right? She turned to her own materia.

"Can you…please just light that stuff on fire?" She coaxed as she focused on the stone in her hand, picturing her bundle of straw on fire. To her surprise, the marble in her hand seemed to answer and she felt a faint surge as it warmed in her hand. A few more seconds of wheedling and her sad pile of kindling started smoking, too.

"It worked!" Her outburst drew some unhappy glances from the rest of the class, but she didn't care. "It worked!" She yelped again and then grabbed her slender classmate in a tight hug that sent the two of them crashing and tipped over Cloud's heat safe plate that held a now burning fire.

"Hot! Hot!"

"Wah! Somebody get some water!"

A graying woman was slowly bending to retrieve her paper grocery bag where it had fallen after three teenagers shoved past her on their skateboards as they ran out of the train station. The dumbapples rolled out of the bag and across the street. She sighed to herself. They were all bruised now and the cart she had been pushing to get her groceries home was lying on its side, one wheel hanging loose from its axle.

Ruvie had been ambling her way home from the grocery store when she passed in front of the station. A train just pulled up to the platform, and she wasn't paying much attention to the passing crowd when she was mowed down by the hooligans.

No one stopped to even look.

She pushed back a strand of silver hair that had escaped the confines of her bun and straightened her back gingerly. She dusted off her navy blue and white daisy print dress and wiggled her toes back into her comfortable walking shoes. Then, she turned to see the train pull out of the station again, hissing and puffing then tooting out a loud whistle.

She could hear that train going about business every day from the comfort of her kitchen. She never needed an alarm clock because the train tracks ran right past her house and she would be woken by the whistling and humbug of the seven o'clock rush. Her son had asked her to move several times now to live with him in the quarters set aside just for Shinra employees, to a better neighborhood.

"It's not a good neighborhood anymore, mom," he would plead, "You live so close to the station. All sorts of people take the train now and Shinra hasn't spared Public Security to patrol nearly as often. It's not safe."

"Nonsense," she had replied, "Your father and I raised you in that house. Those Shinra houses are so close to the city center, I can't even see the sun when it's finally out. How am I going to plant my flowers?"

Looking around at the groceries spilled across the sidewalk and her overturned cart, Ruvie wondered for the first time if her son might have been right.

"Let me get that, ma'am." A quiet voice with a faint country accent said. A lightly calloused hand extended down and grabbed the few fruits that rolled away to the curb and deftly plopped them into the neglected paper bag before a boy stood up with the large bag in his arms. Peeking above the edge of the bag, Ruvie is greeted by large, bright blue eyes behind thick framed glasses and spiky blond hair. Ruvie gave the blond a grateful and warm smile.

"Well, that was very nice of you, hon. I wish boys these days were all like you instead of those rowdy ruffians…" She smiled as she reached out for the bag, only for the blonde to hold it tighter.

"That's alright, ma'am. I can help you carry it." Ruvie smiled. The thought occurred that the boy might be a bandit, who would follow a helpless old woman home and rob her blind, but Ruvie had a good feeling about the boy and decided to take the chance.

"Well, if you don't mind." The blond shook his head. "Please follow me. My house is not far, but please excuse these old bones- I can't walk as fast as I used to."

The boy shook his head. "I don't mind, ma'am."

"Oh! Please call me Ruvie, dear. Ruvie Tuesti. And you are…?"

"I'm Cloud Strife, ma'am."

"Cloud, is it?" What a cute name for a cute boy! Ruvie let out a little girly squeak that drew Cloud to blink up at her with an expression of puzzlement.

"Yes…ma'm?"

"Oh, it's nothing dear." Cloud tilted his head to one side, much like an inquisitive bird, and then glanced at the card lying sideways on the side of the street. Ruvie followed his gaze to look sadly on the little cart her son made for her two years ago when she began to suffer greatly from her arthritis and had trouble walking.

"Don't worry about that, dear. Will you come this way?" The odd duo only made it a block when Ruvie was forced to sit and rest. "I am terribly sorry. I am in a bit of pain after that nasty fall earlier and my knees aren't so young anymore." Cloud placed the groceries next to her on the bench, his brows furrowed in deep worry.

"Can I get you something for the knee? Compression braces from the pharmacy might help." Ruvie laughed and waved, gesturing to her knees.

"These old things? Oh no, no. It's a problem with getting old. I have some pain medication at home." Ruvie reached for the bag and realized that she could barely lift it. "My…I hadn't realized how heavy this is! I've had the cart ..." Cloud's brows rose and then he faintly smiled. My, thought Ruvie, he will grow up to be a looker despite an unfortunate bit of shyness.

"I don't have a problem with it." As if to prove it, he leaned down and picked up the grocery bag again easily despite its bulk. "You can lean on me if you want… so you can take your weight off your knee."

"Oh, you are so precious!" Ruvie reached out and pinched a cheek and then laughed at the red blush that the boy tried to high behind his flyaway hair. She cheerfully recounted her son's crazy inventions when he was at Cloud's age as they slowly waddled their way to her house together.

The two stopped in front of a quaint two story house with a well cultivated little yard. Reeve set the lights to a timer so now in the twilight they were already on, casting a warm glow on the porch. After jiggling the door open, Ruvie cleared the kitchen table so Cloud could set down the groceries.

"Oh thank you so much, dear."

"No problem, ma'am. I'll best be going now." Cloud turned around to leave. Ruvie closed the door pointedly.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" Cloud sputtered and then shook his head. "Then don't go anywhere, dear. You helped me with the groceries. I need to pay you back somehow." Cloud shook his head again, hands waving off Ruvie's offer.

"That's alright m-"

"If you are not going to take my gil, then at least stay for dinner." Ruvie said sternly, hands on her hips. When Cloud shook his head again, Ruvie grinned. "You aren't going to make a poor old woman cook this all by herself will you? Please, call me Ruvie."

Ruvie was quite proud she manipulated the boy into helping once more. In exchange for a homecooked meal of course.

They held the Randall short barrel, which everyone nicknamed Ol' Randy, above their heads as they trudged through the swampy bog that was Southern Wutai. The arduous crossing made them sitting ducks and jammed up their company issues something awful. Not crossing was not an option. Not crossing was a court-martial for deserting and meant being picked off by bullets from the trees anyway since no evacuation was coming, and certainly not for deserters. Crossing was almost certain death at the hands of the waiting jungle.

As they trudged into the quagmire, their already heavy bags were weighed down by water and mud. Their feet sank deeper into the river bed and the mud trapped them. Flanking the main troops, some men laid down cover fire, aiming their weapons blindly into the bush. At the crossing, men were slowly picked off by the unseen enemy. When they reached the other side some men cried.

Later that night, Clay sat in his hastily dug fox hole, padded with what branches he could find to keep the wet at bay, unable to sleep as he looked up at the stars. Years have passed since he had been home. Each day was one step forward and two steps back in the meat grinder that was Shinra's war. How many more would die for pyrrhic victory and empty gil? Why was he so foolish to come?

A hand unconsciously hovered over his breast pocket containing a thin metal watertight case containing his only precious possessions in this godforsaken place. His thoughts wandered to Sector 5. He was in a foreign land looking at a foreign sky. Never did he think he would miss the sight of a steel canopy and artificial lights.

Then a noise in the woods and all other thoughts of home were wiped away by a new threat.