Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of heavy footsteps had kept things tense. Running through the clearings leading to the city, a dark haired young man panted as he tried to stay low. His clothing was messy and in tatters, but one could make out a black shirt snug to his form, and a pair of baggy black pants, his shoulders covered by metal pads and his midsection protected by a vest of some sort. His sleeves and pant legs both had noticeable holes in them, scratches underneath where bullets barely touched, close calls making his heart beat faster. Sitting upon his back, a sword remained secured, a weapon he held dear in case he needed it. Directionless, he glanced at a limp body lying over his shoulder as he had moved one of the pads so he wouldn’t hurt the individual, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as he examined him. Blond, spiky hair, face was quite pale, but he was breathing and that’s what mattered. His facial features made it clear that he was no older than a teenager, which made the man’s heart sink a little with a sad look on his face. “Man… what did that bastard do to you? Mad scientist is off his rocker.” The older male remarked as if expecting any form of response from the boy, but he sighed a bit. “Stay with me, Cloud. We’ll get through this.” He acknowledged the boy's name as he looked ahead, the footsteps seemed to disperse for the time being as he took a deep breath. “Midgar can’t be that far away… can it?” He stood up a bit straighter as he looked around, his eyes scanning the area as he remained mindful not to give himself away.

“Hell… that’s probably the first place they’ll look for us, I’d imagine. They can’t be dumb enough to think a kid this young managed to get to… where’d he say he was from?” The man wondered aloud, but again, he was hoping for answers from an unconscious crowd. Shaking his head, he slumped down again before he noticed a tree nearby and started to make his way to it, lifting Cloud off his shoulder and leaning him against the tree, looking at him somberly as he examined him, hoping to find nothing out of sorts. “What am I even thinking? That place burned down, you’d be crazy to make your way back there anyways. Not like you have much of a choice. Man if you were awake now, I can only imagine what you’d say.” He chuckled weakly as he sat beside Cloud, his knees arched a bit as he rested his arms and looked at the sky, it was bright, clear blue and peaceful. He couldn’t even believe he was in danger right now.

“I’m sure there’s wanted posters all over the place there, ‘wanted dead or alive, Zack Fair’… how would I even begin to explain that to her?” He wondered to himself, having verbalized who he was out loud, but figured he wasn’t in any real harm, talking seemed to help him, even if he was scared for his life. “Damnit… Shinra, what is your game? Why were you letting this kid get experimented on after the incident? After what happened with…” his thoughts trailed for a moment as he heard a faint groan from Cloud, and decided to shut himself up and look down at the ground again, letting Cloud rest. Zack wasn’t sure what else he could say, do or think about as he looked off in the distance at rising smoke. He knew he had to be going the right way, Midgar was always a big energy consumer, it had to give off some signal like that, he regretted not paying more attention when they had gone over the various locales and routes.

‘Maybe I can get you there before nightfall, I’m sure her mom wouldn’t mind letting someone stay there. If not that, someone has to be willing to lend us a hand.’ Zack was hopeful in the moment, and reaffirmed himself of the path ahead. Looking back where they had come from, Zack could tell, at least for the moment, they were safe and started to stand himself back up, his eyes focusing back on Cloud before shutting them. “Just a bit longer, Cloud. Can you make it?” Rhetorically, he watched the spiky haired teen, before he knelt down again and started to lift him up over his shoulder, making sure not to put too much pressure anywhere knowing that he’d be sensitive still. Adjusting himself as well, he moved the sword out of the way so it leaned to his right, so he could leave Cloud across his left shoulder.

Zack, having managed to catch his breath, decided it would be best to move quickly and would begin to move down the same path they had been going, keeping himself focused as his movements became more steady. ‘I think the bleeding had stopped on some of those wounds, thankfully. I shouldn’t have a hard time getting to Midgar now.’ Once again, Zack made it his goal to stay positive as he walked ahead, starting to move quicker, but not too much as to ensure Cloud was comfortable enough, or at least as much as he could be.

Keeping his senses trained, Zack winced a she heard the distant gunfire of some of the troops that had been trailing them, ducking down some as he glanced over his shoulder. He didn’t see anyone in the immediate vicinity, but the gunfire was still close enough for him to be concerned, deciding to take a quick look around to see if he could find a new direction they could take, and hopefully get away from the troops. “Those idiots can’t exactly climb that well in that gear. Maybe I’ll be able to get up a nearby cliff? This might be challenging with this extra weight here.” He made a light hearted joke as his eyes focused on Cloud, trying to remind himself why he was doing this. Zack started to veer away from the path he had been taking and started making his way towards a set of cliffs not far from where he was, thinking it his best shot at survival at this given moment.

The sound of gunfire rang out once again as Zack ducked down, but noticed he still couldn’t sense any bullets or individuals nearby, and it had started to get him worrying, but he pushed on regardless, Cloud beginning to stir a bit finally which was a good sign, at least to Zack. “Hey, if you can hear me, don’t move too much, and try to stay quiet… I’ll explain when we’re safe.” He spoke calmly, knowing that once he awoke, Cloud would feel tired, and confused, and wanted to mitigate that as much as he could. Zack was relieved once Cloud stilled slowly, and continued towards their destination, another round of gunfire ringing out before it settled once more. ‘What are they doing? If they’ve found me why don’t they just finish the job?’ Zack silently cursed, even challenging, fate for what he had been dragged into, but he knew he couldn’t let that stop him.

As he reached the top of the cliff, Zack looked on with a grunt, but he wasn’t unhappy, or hurt. Exhaustion was finally getting to him as he fell to a knee, carefully setting Cloud down so as to not hurt him, but doing his best to stay standing in the process. Standing before him, the circular city of
Midgar graced his sights as he sighed in relief, smiling faintly as he had a few tears threaten to fall. “Heh… never thought I’d be thrilled to see this place again. We’re almost home Cloud.” He remarked as he started to sit Cloud up, seeing the boy's eyes fluttering a bit as he moved Cloud’s right arm around his shoulder, grabbing the back of the boy's pants to hold him up as he leaned him against his shoulder carefully. “Can’t carry you, anymore…” Zack started to drag him along, the sounds of footsteps getting louder as he heard familiar calls, it was trained SOLDIERs, coming their way in a hurry.

“There they are, get them! Hojo only wants the blond haired kid, do what you will with the other one. Just leave the boy unharmed!” A command rang out as Zack peered over his shoulder and sneered, they had finally caught up and Zack knew he had to act fast. “Sorry about this Cloud… I’m sure you’ll understand.” Zack kicked Cloud's legs beneath them, and fell to his knees as he kept hold of Cloud and the two began to roll down the cliff side. Zack grabbed Cloud and pulled him close, securing one of his hands to the back of his head as he made sure he wouldn’t take any serious damage. ‘Damn! This is a lot rougher than I had expected…’

Zack groaned a bit as they reached the bottom and he had stumbled a bit when they did, letting go of Cloudnas he did and gasped seeing him rolling away a bit, landing with a bit of a hard thud nearby. Zack started to push himself up but winced as he felt a slight pain in his side. The sound of clattering could be heard as he turned his attention towards the cliff, his eyes widening a bit as he quickly drew his sword and readied himself. “I don’t have time for this!” He let a frustrated grunt escape as he was ready for combat, unaware that Cloud had started to move a bit more. A burst of bullets came his way as Zack quickly moved his sword in front of him, managing to block each one as he started to guide the gunfire away from Cloud. “That's the best you got? I thought you were SOLDIER!” Zack taunted them a bit as he came to a halt and swung his sword, managing to muster up enough strength and sending a strong gust of wind at the gunmen. Cloud started to push himself up, coughing a bit as he looked at the ground below him and saw a little blood, but at the moment he wasn’t too concerned about that.

Forcing himself to his knees, Cloud saw Zack fighting and gasped. “Z… Zack!” He called out alerting one of the nearby troops who aimed his weapon at the teen. “He’s awake! Move in and neutralize him, we take him in as soon as we’re done here.” Another order rang out as they continued to fire at Zack. The spiky haired boy watched in surprise as one of them ran at him, forcing himself to a sitting position to scoot back. “St-stay back!” He swung his arm to try and make himself a bit more threatening, which stopped the troop in his path and he smirked.

“Oh, the little boy’s afraid?” He mocked as he lowered his gun and raised his head to laugh. “How pathetic. I thought the one Hojo wanted would’ve been a bit more terrifying. How sa…” he gasped as he was cut off, a bolt of lightning flying at him as it struck him right in the chest, causing him to yell in pain as Cloud glared. “Shut up!” He shouted as he had managed to pull himself to his feet, slumping forward a bit as his arm sparked, a small green orb in his glove starting to glow. Another gunman looked and sneered. “That brat has materia! Careful!”

As they turned their attention to Cloud, Zack charged and managed to cut one of the men, knocking him back and was getting ready to move towards the next. Before he could act, however, the sound of a bullet caught everyone’s attention, but it wasn’t a normal bullet, it was much stronger, and louder. Cloud stumbled and fell to his knee, Zack running to help him as the SOLDIER troops looked towards the shot. Standing by an entrance to the city, a larger, balding man in a tan suit made his way over, a perplexed look on his face as he saw Zack and Cloud. “P-Palmer, Sir!” The leader of the unit stood at attention as the man approached. “What is going on out here? This close to the city?!” The man, Palmer, seemed confused but he managed to remain stoic for a moment as he looked at the troops.

“Professor Hojo had asked us to bring these two in, and we had run into a bit of a snag. What’re you doing here?” The leader asked Palmer, who scoffed at the name as he looked at the boys. “I don’t know who you are, but I’ll let you back into the city, but stay out of trouble. I don’t know what Hojo is doing, but the president doesn’t want us acting with force so close to our city, is that clear?” Palmer addressed both groups immediately before he went to the city entrance and scanned something on his suit, looking over as Zack helped Cloud to his feet, standing still so the troops wouldn’t try anything. As Zack approached the door, Palmer addressed him with a quiet voice. “I don’t know who you are. But you’re wearing SOLDIER colors, and you’re being targeted… I won’t be so kind next time. Stay out of the public eye.” His words were ominous, threatening to a point, but Zack wasn’t about to surrender this chance and started to make his way inside, hearing the gate close as he did.

“Palmer, huh? Can’t say that name rings any bells.” Zack muttered to himself as Cloud remained quiet a moment more. “Zack… where are we…?” Cloud managed to say, albeit very faintly. Zack looked at him curiously, but managed to force a smile. “Home… at least for now. Save your energy, let’s get you somewhere to rest, and we can talk later. I think there’s an inn near that run down… bar, I think it was?”

Zack tried to keep the discussion light and mostly empty so Cloud didn’t have to think about anything, knowing the boy had a lot of questions to ask. But for now his goal was to get him to safety as they made their way through the crowds. ‘I’m home… Aerith.’

Chapter Text

As they traveled through Midgar, Cloud had eventually managed to regain enough strength to walk on his own, Zack letting him go carefully as he stood up straighter and let out a sigh, followed by a bit of a yawn as he looked around. “Talk about over excitement, how you feeling? Hopefully that materia didn’t take it out of you.” Zack turned his attention to Cloud as the boy seemed to look around in awe at the city. It was rundown and a bit dirty, but it was much different from his home, and so it stood out quite a bit to him. Bringing his attention back, he looked at Zack and shook his head gently. “Oh… no, I’m fine. I didn’t even realize I had done that before it was too late, but I probably shouldn’t do it again for a while.” Cloud commented as they got to a train station, the boy's attention turning to the stationary train, much to Zack’s amusement as he cracked a small smile.

“Not used to all this, huh?” Zack wondered out loud as he stopped in his tracks and let Cloud Take in the sights, using this moment to take a seat on a nearby bench to catch his breath, yawning again as he leaned back and looked up, seeing that he could no longer see the sky above them. “I guess that makes sense, you’re pretty far from home at this point…” Zack froze for a moment before he focused on Cloud, leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs as he did so. “Do you… remember anything that happened? Within the last couple of months?” Cloud heard the question, and he looked over at Zack for a moment, showing he hadn’t thought about it up until now. “Remember…?” Cloud softly muttered as his eyes seemed to show a bit of emptiness, as if he were forcing himself to think about something else.

Cloud grunted suddenly as he brought a hand to his head, gasping briefly as he started to stumble around. Zack quickly returned to his feet and rushed over to check on him. “H-hey! Cloud, are you okay?” His voice gave way to panic as he quickly placed a hand on the teens shoulder noticing that Clouds had shut his eyes tight, deciding to help him to the bench as Cloud let out another pained sound. “I… I…” Cloud muttered briefly but couldn’t seem to get anything else out, Zack sighing as he sat him down. “Cloud, it’s okay!” He called out to him once again, Cloud’s eyes shooting open as he gasped and panted a bit, looking around quickly as he felt Zack’s hand. “Hey, just breathe, look at me.” Zack quickly tried to rope in Cloud’s focus as he watched the panicked boy.

“I… I can’t remember…” Cloud began speaking, struggling to get it out but he was calming down. “I can’t remember anything.” He looked at Zack, his voice wavering a bit as he seemed to have a bit of fear hidden behind his eyes, Zack catching on immediately as he shook his head. “No, don’t worry about it, sorry I asked. Just sit here.” He looked around a bit realizing they still had a bit to go before they got anywhere they’d be able to properly rest. ‘I can’t just leave him here. But if I’m gonna find help, I need to be sure he won’t freak out or collapse again. Not counting the fact I’m exhausted.’ Zack thought to himself, not wanting Cloud to hear what he was worried about as he let out another sigh.

“Where are we even going? I’m so tired.” Cloud finally managed to remark, not held up by his shaky breathing. Zack winced at the question as he wasn’t quite sure how to answer it. “I’m not entirely sure, myself. I know someone here in Midgar who might be able to help, but she’s quite a ways out from where we are. Think you’ll be able to make it, or should I see if someone can help you?” Zack decided to see what he thought, knowing that forcing Cloud was a bad idea, especially now that he saw another outcome of what Hojo had done to the kid. Cloud looked around for a moment as he thought about that.

“I can sit here, I think it’s better if you go since you know your way around.” Cloud shook his head showing he was already aware he was dragging Zack down, but the older man wasn’t about to let it end at that, placing a hand firmly on Cloud’s shoulder but not enough to be painful or pressured. “As long as you’re sure. Just try and relax and I’ll be back for you. I promise I’ll be back with some help.” Zack assured him, letting go slowly as he watched Cloud lean back and slump down slightly on the bench, yawning softly as he lowered his head. Zack nodded, before he had an idea, detaching the weapon secured to his back and leaning it against the bench beside Zack. Cloud noticed and looked at Zack with a surprise on his face. “Hold onto this for me, okay? If you need to, use it and defend yourself. But I’d feel comfortable knowing it was in your hands.” Zack smiled a little as he started to turn to walk away, Cloud nodding in silent understanding.

Cloud sighed as he watched Zack leave, taking the weapon and lying it next to him so he could grab it easier, and keep an eye on it in case someone tried to grab it and run. Cloud looked down at the ground again as his eyes glazed over a bit, his mind doing its best to try and understand everything that was happening, but every time he tried, it was left with nothing but a void, as if something had been taken from him. Shutting his eyes for a moment, he winced again and leaned forward as he tried to stop himself, but it had begun to grow more and more difficult. “W-what did… what happened to me…?”

-

Some time had passed, and the train had departed not long ago, leaving the station in a bit of a quiet, empty state as Cloud had ended up slouching back, dozing off as he tried to wait patiently for Zack. People had since returned to their homes and the overhead lights from the street lamps had begun to turn on, but Zack had yet to return. The sound of a pair of footsteps could be heard off in the distance as Cloud weakly looked to his right. “Huh…?” A figure turned the corner and noticed Cloud, tilting their head a bit as he did, Cloud was able to see a soft purple dress, and the figure of a child. “A-are you okay…?” A young, childish voice called out to Cloud, but was quickly followed by another, more urgent and older voice. It was a girl's voice, young woman, maybe teenager from what little Cloud could gather. “Marlene! Don’t run ahead, he’d be upset if I lost you.” She said, but came to an abrupt stop when she saw the spiky haired boy on the bench. “N… no way… Cloud?” She noticed how he looked and didn’t waste a second, going to kneel before him as the girl stepped aside and watched.

“Tifa, do you know him?” Marlene asked the older girl curiously, watching as the girl adjusted her white shirt and got closer to examine his face. “I… Well, yeah. But it’s been a few years. Cloud, can you hear me?” She called out again, noticing he was barely conscious. “It’s no good. I don’t want to leave him here, but how did he even get here…?” She started to think to herself, the surge of emotions felt from him being here making her struggle to focus. Gently resting a hand on his shoulder, she shook him to try and see if he’ll wake up, internally praying that the worst wasn’t happening.

“Z-Zack…?” Cloud called out faintly as he started to open his eyes, slowly but surely he was coming to. Tifa stepped back slowly and took Marlene’s hand, looking at him carefully as she did so. “Wh-what happened?” Cloud muttered before he managed to look up, his eyes focusing for a moment as he was expecting to see Zack. His eyes shot open when his vision finally came into focus and he made a startled sound, quickly jumping to his feet with a wince as he looked at her. “T… Tifa? Is… that you?” Cloud looked at her carefully as he carefully lifted the sword Zack had given him and placed it behind his back as he kept his eyes locked on the two, raising an eye at Marlene for a moment before returning his gaze to Tifa.

“Yeah. It’s me.” Tifa managed to say in disbelief, managing a smile, but she seemed confused, and unsure as she watched the teen. “It’s been a while, Cloud. What’re you doing here?” She finally managed to ask, keeping Marlene close as she did. Cloud froze for a moment when he heard the question, not really sure where to begin as he let out a sigh, returning to the bench as he sat down, shaking his head at the question. “I’m not really sure if I’m being honest with you. The last few months had been a blur? And I can’t really explain why but every time I try to think about it…” his voice trailed off as Tifa listened, taken aback by his sudden quietness on the matter. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I guess… fate decided to bring me here. What about you? Last I saw you, you were back at home with your dad.”

Tifa froze up when she heard that, unsure how she would respond to it as she looked away for a moment, causing Cloud to raise an eye at that, but figured it was best to drop it for now. Marlene noticed that Tifa had grown sad when she heard Cloud, and shook her head before trying to change the subject. “The bench can’t be a comfortable place to sleep. Why not come with us?” Marlene decided to urge the idea, looking up at Tifa. “I’m sure daddy won’t mind!” Marlene gave a little smile, showing bright, honest optimism in her actions and words, which managed to make Tifa let her guard down and smile again, even if it was fake and Tifa knew she was lying. “True, I feel he’d be okay with it, if we explain things. What do you say, Cloud?”

Cloud looked a bit apprehensive as he heard their offer, looking the other way remembering where Zack had gone and seemed to have a bit of a longing to his expression. Tifa noticed and followed his gaze, but wasn’t able to tell what he was looking for and sighed. “Sorry, it’s probably a bit too forward, and I wouldn’t blame you for being unsure.” Tifa started, but was cut off quickly when Cloud stood up. “Oh, no. Sorry, it isn’t that. It’s just…” he paused for a moment before he sighed. “I’m not here alone, but I’m not sure where he went. And I don’t want to leave him without any idea where I went.” Cloud explained, watching as Tifa seemed to understand what he meant and nodded.

Tifa couldn’t just leave him here alone, however, and started thinking as she looked down at Marlene again, before lifting the girl into her arms and smiled a bit. “Tell you what, just because it’s clear you need a place right now. Come with me, let me know what this guy looks like and I’ll make sure he knows where you are. That way nothing goes wrong. You can trust me on that, right?” She looked at him, thinking on her feet, but deep down it was clear she just was happy that Cloud was okay. “Y-yeah, of course I can trust you. But how would you do that?” He pondered as he stood back up slowly, going to stand beside her. Tifa smiled with a bit more confidence when she heard him say that before smiling.

“That parts easy. When you run a bar, news is one of the quickest things to travel, so just leave it to me.” Tifa explained rather bluntly as she carried Marlene off in the opposite direction, motioning for Cloud to follow. Cloud gave a soft nod, not thinking much of it in the moment before the words finally clicked and he quickly started to follow along. “Wait… what do you mean you run a bar?” He asked out loud, Marlene giggling a bit when she saw Cloud start booking it to keep up, but Tifa was going to let him figure that part out. Retreating to her thoughts for now, she kept her eyes ahead. ‘Where have you been, Cloud. Do you… really not remember?”

Chapter Text

The walk through Midgar was a silent one, Cloud’s eyes wandering around slowly as he took in everything below the plate. Tifa and Marlene watched, sharing an amusement for the excitement Cloud seemed to show, even if faintly since he was clearly trying to play it off. “It’s a lot different from home. I remember feeling the same way as you probably do now.” Tifa finally remarked, keeping her eyes forward as she walked, wanting to try and strike up a conversation with Cloud to ease any lingering tension. She was still hung up on the fact he didn’t remember what had happened to their home, but she didn’t want to just tear the bandage off. Cloud looked at her when he heard that and nodded in silent agreement, he seemed fixated on the plate specifically. “So, what’s the deal with the sky? Do they just cover it up for no reason?” Cloud questioned, Tifa noticing his curiosity had sparked and smiled a bit as she seemed to be reminiscing a bit.

“Not particularly for no reason. But truth be told I’d be happier if it was for no reason.” Tifa let out a sigh as she continued walking, weaving through the occasional small crowd with Marlene and Cloud close to her. “They simply call it the plate. It’s used to separate Shinra and their chosen from the rest of us, they look down on a lot of us.” Tifa explained as she looked up at the plate, it was ominous, creepy, and cold just to look at. A large floating layer of metal with a few flashing lights didn’t sit well with her, and it was clear even she wasn’t quite used to it herself. “Barret says it’s their way of keeping control of the slums. That’s where we are. And the longer I stay here the more it sounds accurate.” Tifa mentioned a name that Cloud wasn’t familiar with, the spiky haired young man turning his head towards her curiously, raising an eye a bit.

“I was meaning to ask, now that you mentioned that name. Is Barret someone you knew back then? Who is he?” Cloud started to speak his thoughts, having grown curious the more he heard about Midgar, and what Tifa had to say about things. Tifa chuckled a little as she gently set Marlene down and took her hand, the girl smiling up at Tifa as she stayed close. “Heh, I suppose I should explain that much to you. No, Barret isn’t from Nibelheim, nor is he from the Nibel region. I’m not entirely sure where he’s from, to tell you the truth, he hasn’t really talked about himself much, but he is Marlene’s father. And…” Tifa froze for a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say next. Taking a deep breath, she slowly nodded and looked over at Cloud. As Tifa thought, they soon arrived at a rather cluttered, and congested area with various buildings, and locations to see. “Barret was actually the first person who even gave me the time of day when I had arrived here. He’s a bit rough around the edges, but when things were rough, he was there.” Tifa had a small smile as they walked, slowly approaching what looked like a bar.

Cloud noticed the smile on her face was somewhat empty, almost sad in a way. He nodded slowly as he looked up at the building before them. ‘Seventh Heaven’ the sign read, Cloud crossing his arms and nodded softly as he let it sink in. “How long have you been here, anyways?” Cloud asked her as he went and leaned against the railing of the stairs leading into the bar. Tifa let Marlene’s hand go and smiled as she rushed inside, followed by some excitement inside as Cloud raised an eye. “Ignore it, she’s fine. But to answer your question… I think it’s been a little over a year now? I’ve lost track of the time if I’m being honest.” She explained and went and took a seat on one of the steps, adjusting one of the straps attached to her pants as she moved her shoulder and tried to relax. Cloud paused for a moment when he heard her say it had been more than a year. Looking at the plate once more, his mind would slowly start racing once more. ‘A year…?’

Cloud let his thoughts collect, but was brought back to his senses when there was another voice by the bar entrance, a much firmer and authoritative voice. “Tifa, welcome home.” Leaning against the wall was a larger individual, who was taller than both Cloud and Tifa, wearing a green jacket with similarly colored pants, and sunglasses that covered his eyes. “Who’s this?” He pushed himself away from the wall and made his way over to them, giving Tifa a gentle smile when she stood up. Cloud watched him carefully as the man’s presence made him a bit nervous. “Hey, Barret. You’re back earlier than expected. This is Cloud. That… boy I had mentioned a few times.” She cleared her throat a bit as she tried to dance around something, Barret giving her a skeptical look before he let it go and looked over at Cloud, getting a small hint.

“So you’re the SOLDIER boy from Tifa’s childhood. Don’t see many of you down below the surface.” Barret remarked curtly, and faced Cloud head on. Cloud examined him more in depth, seeing the man was muscular, well built, but he didn’t seem threatening. The man had a caring aura to him, even if it was a bit overbearing with the gruff demeanor he had. Cloud couldn’t help but notice one detail, however… the man’s arm. Barret noticed he was staring, but didn’t say a word as he looked Cloud over still. “So, what brings a boy like you down here?” Barret stood before him, seeing the boy grunt a bit nervously, avoiding eye contact for a moment. “It’s… nothing. I was brought here by a friend, but I’m not entirely sure why we came all this way. Maybe when he comes back around you can ask him.” Cloud tried to steel himself and act tough against the presence Barret had, feeling a bit uneased for the moment.

“He’s got a few gaps in his memory, from what I gathered. Figured he could use something to eat, so I brought him here. Marlene is inside, if you want to go say hi.” Tifa redirected the discussion, Barret softened up when he heard that, but put on a small smile when he heard Tifa’s words. “Very well. I’ll go easy on the punk. If he’s a friend of yours I won’t turn him away.” Barret nodded firmly before he turned to walk inside. “Now, where are my wonderful children!” He called out proudly with a bit of a laugh as he made his way inside, Tifa smiling a little as she looked over at Cloud.

“Well, he sure is confident, if anything. What was that about being a bit rough around the edges? And I thought he just had one child, that little girl.” Cloud had a lot of questions pop to mind all at once, but he knew he’d only get them answered with time. Tifa rolled her eyes gently as she crossed her arms, leaning against the railing as she listened to his questions. “Like I said, he can be. But Barret is a sweet guy once you get to know him, just stay on his good side.” She explained, clearly not intimidated by it like Cloud seemed to be, the spiky haired boy shaking it off for now. “As for children, there’s some things we can’t say in public, so let’s go inside and get you properly introduced.” Tifa motioned towards the door with her head and made her way inside, leaving Cloud alone for a moment as the boy looked around, having hoped Zack might've come around, or even returned to find him, but for now he just shook it off. ‘He’s fine, there’s no way something happened in this place.’ Cloud thought to himself as he started walking up the steps.

Cloud made his way inside to see Tifa had gone behind the bar and began putting something together. He couldn’t make it out at the moment and decided to look into it later. He scanned the area as he made his way to the bar as he saw Barret sitting at a nearby table, lifting Marlene onto his shoulder and laughing a bit as the girl seemed happy in the moment, getting a small smile from Cloud. “Say, Marlene, where’s your brother at? Did he go sneaking out again?” Barret’s words caught Cloud’s attention as he focused on them, glancing around as he heard some nearby footsteps. Marlene shook her head as she looked around. “Red was here earlier, he probably got bored.” Marlene mentioned as Cloud noticed something behind Barret, something in a brown cloak slowly moving around. “Hey… Barret?” Cloud called out and cleared his throat, motioning behind the larger man. Barret gave him a curious eye as he lowered his head so he could see him over the sunglasses, before a knowing look suddenly took its place. Mouthing silently to Cloud, he shut him up and played things off.

“What’s the matter, SOLDIER boy? Cat got your tongue? Or maybe the dog.” Barret teased a little before he quickly spun his chair around. “Maybe a mix of those things like this one!” He laughed as he grabbed the cloaked figure and quickly hoisted him into the air. “H-hey! No fair, he cheated!” A young boy's voice called out from under the cloak as Barret spun back around carefully and smiled, making sure Marlene was secured on his shoulder, and sitting the other person on one of his knees. “I thought I had you this time.” The boy grumbled a bit as he leaned toward the table. Cloud watched curiously, his attention drawn to a faint red and yellow light coming from the back of the boy’s cloak.

“You’re getting better. I’m sure if I didn’t get that hint you might’ve gotten me. Gotta learn to keep yourself hidden when we have guests.” Barret chuckled softly, rubbing the boys back, before he set him down on a nearby seat, the boy looking towards Cloud curiously for a moment, adjusting part of the hood and indirectly showing Cloud he didn’t have a normal hand, but instead a red and orange paw. “Don’t be rude, Red. This guy is a friend of Tifa’s so you don’t gotta worry about hiding, so introduce yourself.” Barret told the boy as he set Marlene in another seat before he went towards the bar to lend Tifa a hand. The cloaked boy gave a slow nod at the man’s words before he cleared his throat.

“Uh… hi.” He acknowledged Cloud directly, looking him over as if scanning him for his own certainty. “If Tifa trusts you, I guess that’s fine. She hasn’t been wrong before.” He shrugged softly before he loosened his hood and started pulling it back. As the hood dropped, a pair of ears raised from the boy's hair, and he was now more visibly seen, Cloud looking with mild surprise when he saw him. Adjusting a pair of glasses on his face, the boy having features of a wolf, with hints of a feline to him, making it hard for Cloud to really make out what he was. His fur was a mix of light and dark orange, mixed with some tan in various places, the top of his head had a more dark red color to it, separating a bit as if it were hair on a normal person. His eyes… or eye, as Cloud noticed his glasses were sitting in front of an eye patch that covered his right eye, the color was yellow. “My name's Red XIII… please call me Red, though. I don’t really like that other name.” He muttered the last bit, looking away as he seemed to be thinking about something.

“Oh, that’s fine. It’s good to meet you Red. Uh,
You’re Barret’s son?” Cloud found himself questioning the matter as he looked over at Barret, then back at the two kids. “Well, yes. But also not really. He acts like a dad if needed, but he mostly just looks after me. I don’t actually remember much about my parents, so Barret fills in.” His voice deepened a little as he spoke, the boy was trying to put on a more mature front as he spoke, but something in Cloud told him that there was a lot more to the story. “What about you, how do you know Tifa?” Red asked him, leaning forward against the table and stretching his paws a little as Marlene nodded excitedly, sharing the question Red had as she wanted more details as well.

“How do I know Tifa? Well, that's an easy one. We grew up in Nibelheim together, she was there when I went to join SOLDIER, and we hadn’t really seen one another in a long while. So seeing her here is a bit of a surprise. I guess you could say we were… friends.” Cloud seemed to stumble when he got to that word, something about the word “friends” seemed to confuse him, as he glanced over at Tifa momentarily. Marlene and Red exchanged a look when they heard his story. “SOLDIER, huh…?” Red seemed to suddenly grow apprehensive as he heard the older teens' occupation, it was a mix of skepticism, and distance as he watched Cloud. Cloud noticed how he had acted and seemed rather confused, but he didn’t know what else to really say on that matter as he sighed.

“Truthfully, I think a better term to use would be Ex-SOLDIER. I can’t exactly explain it but I’m not exactly on good terms with Shinra. I don’t know if I ever actually resigned, but I can say for certainty that I won’t be going back easily.” He expressed how he felt to hopefully alleviate any tension that might’ve grown, knowing that not everyone saw Shinra in a positive light, even he himself was starting to have his doubts as he leaned forward and thought. Tifa noticed that things had grown quiet as she went towards the bar and looked at the kids. “Alright you two, that’s enough questioning. Could you go get washed up before we eat, please?” Tifa instructed, the two nodding as they hopped off of their chairs and quickly went off to do just that. Tifa nodded before her expression turned somewhat somber, going over to Cloud and handing him a glass of water. “Sorry about that. It’s not you, just…”

“Shinra isn’t exactly the shining example of good work and excellence, I get it. I should’ve been more mindful of how people might feel with my presence. What that boy said confused me, though. What… or nicer put , who is he?” Cloud looked over at Tifa, showing he had moved on pretty easily from things, which was a relief to the girl as she shook her head, glad to see it smoothed over. Tifa thought about how to go about answering his question as she pulled over a stool and leaned over the counter, taking a seat. “Well, Red isn’t exactly normal as you’ve gathered. He was actually not even originally from here. I don’t know the specifics but he’s from a canyon far from here.” Tifa began explaining, taking a sip of her own cup nearby as she locked eyes with Cloud, wanting to be transparent about what she told him. “He was actually dropped off in the slums by someone from above the plate, we never got their name but Red was left with a note, the boy was scared and alone, but it had all the answers.”

Cloud listened intently, occasionally glancing back at Barret who was clearly listening in on the story, but also focused on putting together what Cloud could now make out were burgers, his stomach softly rumbling when he saw them as he realized how hungry he had gotten. “Soon, SOLDIER boy. I hear ya.” Barret smirked over his shoulder as Cloud stammered and looked aside a bit flustered. Tifa smiled a bit as she saw that, before she quickly brought it back in to continue explaining. “Simply put, Red was… a prisoner in Shinra’s building. The letter didn’t go into many details, but whoever had saved Red had told us in that letter that Hojo, one of their professors up top, had used him to experiment with his blood, and magic potential.” Tifa sighed softly as she wiped a tear from her eye, trying to keep it together as she explained things. Even with information being unknown, it was clear that the idea that Red was experimented on was enough alone to make her upset. Cloud let out a sigh, finishing his own drink and setting the cup aside.

“Hojo, huh?” He muttered a bit as he processed the name, realizing it was a name he had heard before. “I don’t remember who he is, but I’ve heard that name before. That’s awful that he’s done such a thing.” Cloud commented as Barret brought a couple of plates over, and decided to finally chime in. “Shinra will do anything, they don’t care about who or what they’re affecting. Just look at the damn eyesore hanging above us.” Barret mentioned as he gave both of them a plate with a couple burgers.

“Not even just that, Red used to be a creature who walked on all four, they changed him to be more like us. For what reason, beats me. And everything they do? Drains the planet. They don’t care about people, creatures, or anything so long as they’re content.” Barret seemed to get a bit loud as he spoke on the matter, Tifa shaking her head as she took a bite of her food, and let him tell Cloud what he felt. “That’s why we gotta make it clear we ain’t gonna take it. They want to hurt people like Red, like us? They’re gonna have to answer to me if they wanna come for any of that.” Cloud thought about it, and even opened his mouth to comment, but went quiet as he realized he didn’t have much of a retort. The silence was broken by both Marlene and Red returning to the table they were originally at with Barret, the man carefully bringing them their own plates. “Eat up, Tifa worked hard on these.” He had a smile across his face once more as he sat with the two and began eating, the three talking about nothing in particular. Barret seemed pretty intent on ensuring the two didn’t have to worry about anything he spoke on, caring more about their happiness when they were in the vicinity.

Tifa looked up from her plate and back at Cloud once again. “Sorry, you’re probably still a bit exhausted from whatever happened. Let’s eat, I’ll start asking Johnny or someone else to lend a hand finding your friend.” Tifa told him, watching as Cloud began to follow suit and eat with the rest of them. Tifa let her thoughts linger as she looked over at Barret. ‘Maybe Cloud is the answer we need.’ She thought longingly, before she let it go and shook her head, eating in silence as she looked back at her plate. For the moment, she just cared that Cloud was okay, even if he wasn’t himself.

Chapter Text

The rest of their meal was mostly silent, outside of Barret talking with the two he was sitting with. Tifa watched them with a gentle smile, a content sigh escaping her lips as she gathered both hers and Cloud’s dishes. He noticed and quickly stood to lend a hand. “H-hey, let me help you. You already did a lot.” Cloud proclaimed, but quickly cleared his throat and adjusted himself a bit. “I mean, I got it. You’ve been working hard.” Cloud pointed out as he took his own things and made his way around the bar quickly. Tifa chuckled a bit when she saw that and rested a hand on her hip as Cloud made his way to the sink. “Well there’s a surprise, you didn’t used to be this gentlemanly.” She teased a bit before walking over with her own dishes and started showing him how everything worked, not turning down the offer for free help. “I appreciate it though. The kids usually like to help, but they tend to get in the way as well, so I’ll take the help from someone older.” She remarked a bit and glanced back seeing Barret telling the two a story, Marlene smiling as Red leaned forward with an awestruck look in his eyes.

Cloud nodded softly as he ran the water and started to carefully scrub one of the plates, but decided to strike up more conversation. “So… a bar? What got this going, I’m assuming it’s new?” Cloud pondered, knowing they were similar in age so he was curious how long it must’ve taken her to get to something like this. Tifa thought about it as she took a towel and dried them off gently. “Honestly, when I got here I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was really just wandering wherever the wind took me, but when I realized this building was empty…" She shrugged a bit and smiled some as she stacked the dried dishes, watching as Red carried over their own dishes from their table and set them down before hurrying back to Barret. “He actually helped me get things going. He and Johnny both were probably my biggest supporters.” She watched Barret for a moment as the man yawned, leaning forward and resting his elbow on the table.

Cloud heard another unfamiliar name and tilted his head towards her curiously. “Johnny?” He blinked as he set the new dishes in the sink to let them soak a little. Tifa realized she had said that before giving him a nod. “Oh, right. Yeah, Johnny was a friend of mine that I met during my earlier days here. He’s a nice guy, albeit a bit… odd.” She chuckled softly and motioned Cloud to move aside, handing him the towel to show they were swapping places. “Honestly it’s really nothing special, he had a crush on me for a while but he seemed to get over it pretty quickly, since I wasn’t really pursuing anything. But when the opportunity arose for me, he offered me some money to pay for the building. And we went forward with a bar. You’ll probably see him tomorrow when we open again.”

“I was wondering about that, it seemed really quiet for a bar even now, since it’s night.” Cloud remarked, glancing back at the empty dining area. Tifa nodded slowly, knowing what he meant as she followed his gaze curiously. “That’s intentional. I knew Johnny and Barret were going to be out for the day, and Red was here alone. He doesn’t like to leave often unless we all go. But I decided to close shop for the day so we could get anything we needed done. I guess I made the right choice since we found you.” She smiled a bit as she said that, her gaze wandering as a sign that she had let her thoughts begin to roam, Cloud noticing almost immediately. “Enough about me though, I know you’re having a rough time remembering things but what about you? How was SOLDIER, before you ended up back here? I remember it was practically a dream for you when you left that day.”

Cloud thought about it as he finished drying whatever was left and wiped down the counter, being rather meticulous about it which amused Tifa as she went and leaned against the nearby wall. “Honestly it’s like you said, it was a dream of mine for so long. And I was so excited when they took me.” He admitted, another surprise to Tifa, knowing that Cloud wasn’t one to open up that easily, unaware it was probably due to them being alone at the moment. Tifa decided to make an attempt and push things so see what happened. “So… did you get to meet him?” Tifa asked, casually as she could as she tried to ignore how tense she probably sounded when she asked it. Cloud stared right at her as he wondered what she meant for a moment, unsure of what to say. “You know, Sephiroth. The big, intimidating SOLDIER that everyone wanted to know, everyone wanted to see. You mentioned him once, I remember.” Tifa ripped the bandage off, looking at Cloud head on as she pushed herself away from the wall.

Cloud froze for a moment as his eyes met hers, slowly trying to pull his gaze away as he looked towards the sink. “S… sephir…” Cloud quietly muttered to himself as he went and faced the sink fully, gripping the sides as he thought about it. “Sephiroth…” Cloud grunted as he clutched the sink too tight and realized he was hurting his fingers, wincing gently as he let go. Tifa noticed and immediately went to his side. “Cloud, breathe. Look at me.” She called out to him as she turned him a little. Cloud turned and gasped, stumbling back as he put his hand on the counter, slipping a little due to the surface being wet from his cleaning, which caused him to stumble to the ground. The sound could be heard from the dining area as Barret motioned the two to stay put before he rushed to the kitchen.

“Tifa, spiky, what’s going on in here?” He called out as he saw Cloud had leaned back against the wall, his breathing shaky as he looked at Tifa as if he had seen a ghost. “I… I don’t… did I ever actually meet him…?” Cloud seemed unsure as he spoke, his eyes wandering the kitchen before he looked at Barret, the two locking eyes in the moment as the man removed his sunglasses for a moment. “He’s pale, did something happen?” Barret, in the moment, didn’t have anything to say to Cloud, a sense of concern coming over him as he knelt down by him. Cloud took a few slow breaths as he heard them recap the situation, but some aspects started to get hazy, whenever Tifa mentioned a name it was as if he was hearing static, nothing at all.

Barret sighed as he got a glass of water from nearby and looked at Cloud, seeing him calming down. “Hey, drink this.” He called out to him, having a bit of a firmness to his voice, but was ensuring he was fine in the process, not wanting Cloud to stress himself out anymore than he already did. “He’s had a rough day, from what you’ve told me. Let’s go take him to Marle, she’ll probably have a spare room for him. It’s best if we let him sleep and try again tomorrow.” Barret reasoned with Tifa. Seeing she was uneasy, and a bit downtrodden about things, he rested a firm hand on her shoulder. “Stay here with Marlene and Red, I’ll take him.”

Tifa looked toward his hand and sighed as she nodded, mouthing a thank you as she slowly stood and looked at Cloud, before she started leaving the kitchen. Barret watched Cloud for a moment as he noticed the glass was already half empty, a bit of relief flowing over him as he saw that. Standing up, he extended a hand to Cloud, making sure to keep his gun pointed down so he didn’t startle him, knowing he was a SOLDIER not doing him anything as he was clearly not one to disregard someone regardless of what they’ve seen. “Can you walk, or do you need a moment?” His voice softened as he watched him, the firmness remaining but it was a lot friendlier than when they were outside. Cloud noticed the hand extended and sighed as he took it, taking a deep breath as he did. “I… think so. Sorry.” He grunted out an apology as he tried playing it off, but something told Cloud he wasn’t fooling Barret. Barret made sure he was standing properly before he let go, shaking his head as he glanced over at the dining hall and saw Tifa had pulled out a deck of cards to play a game with the two.

“Don’t apologize, these things happen. Come with me.” He motioned him along, Cloud feeling surprised at how blunt and assertive he was but didn’t hesitate doing as asked. “Didn’t take you as the worrying type.” Cloud remarked as he gave the trio a small wave, walking by as he followed Barret out of the bar. The older man looked over his shoulder as he raised an eye. “Saying it’s weird for me to care about someone?”

Cloud stopped for a moment when he heard that before he shook his head. “N-no. Sorry. Guess I’m just… getting used to it, I guess. I was kinda dragged here without any real choice, and everything that might help is fuzzy.” Cloud reasoned why he felt the way he did, but it was clear he didn’t want to delve too much deeper, which Barret left it at as he made his way down the path not too far from the bar. “Nothing wrong with being unsure. I’m gonna get you a place to stay for the night, but this stuff ain’t free. You willing to put in a little work to pay your way until we get everything figured out with that head of yours?” Barret presented the offer, stopping and turning to face Cloud as he wanted to show he was serious, the offer being more a formality over anything. Cloud sighed as he heard that and looked around momentarily, thinking of what to say as he started thinking about Zack again.

“I don’t really have a choice, I guess. I probably shouldn’t stick around too long, if Zack doesn’t come back.” Cloud seemed conflicted, knowing he had a variety of things he needed to do, but Barret seemed to genuinely want to lend a hand, even if he was a bit rough around the edges as Tifa had said. Barret noticed he had mentioned someone, and decided to pursue that matter as he motioned him to keep following. “Zack, huh? Got a friend this whole time and you didn’t mention it?” He raised a question, curious as to what the circumstances were.

“Well, I can’t exactly say for sure what happened. But he helped me get here and kept me away from some SOLDIER grunts.” Cloud began explaining, walking behind Barret at a bit of a slower pace as he took in the sights once more, his face remaining stoic the whole time as he tried to think through everything. “I remember waking up, and we were near this city. We met some man, I think his name was Parker. Palmer? Something like that. But after that, it’s a bit blurry again. He left me with this and that’s all I remember from the last few days.” Cloud pointed at the weapon stuck to his back, the buster sword that Zack had left in his care. Barret listened the whole time as they arrived at what seemed to be apartment buildings. Questions swirled in the man’s land when he listened to Cloud’s story. “Tell me, what’s this friend look like? If you were left here in the slums, I doubt he’d be able to make his way topside, soldier or not. So maybe I could have a buddy of mine track him down for you.” Barret presented an offer, stopping by a small building that sat apart from the main rooms.

Cloud looked at the various rooms before him as he thought about what Barret said, understanding that what he said was almost entirely true. Regardless of their position, it was clear something happened with SOLDIER, and Shinra as a whole, leaving them out in the dust, but he wasn’t sure where to even begin as he let out a sigh. “Well, that part is easy. He’s a bit taller than me, and wears all black. His hair is spiked and black as well. He’s hard to miss honestly.” Cloud explained to him as he leaned against a nearby railing and looked up again, having expected the night sky, only to be greeted with the plate, a somber look forming on his face as he just shut his eyes and sighed. “If you could tell him where I am, things would probably be easier, but I don’t even know where he went.” Cloud explained, leaving Barret with what little information he could gather. That didn’t seem to deter Barret, however, as he decided to leave it at that and knock on the door. It was quiet for a moment, Barret watching stoically as he did.

A moment more would pass before the door opened, an older woman wearing a black dress with a green coat on over the top, her hair was gray and pulled back but Cloud could tell that it was pretty long otherwise. She looked at Barret before giving a curious and skeptical look towards Cloud. “Who might this be?” Her tone was a bit blunt, but she didn’t seem hostile or negative, which was at least welcomed by Cloud. “Sorry for bothering you, Marle. This is Cloud, he’s a friend of Tifa’s that had found himself stumbling into sector 7. He doesn’t have much right now but he needs a place to stay.” Barret explained the situation in short order, not wanting to divulge information Cloud probably didn’t want shared. The woman listened to him before she focused on Cloud, her eyes narrowing a little as she got a good look at him, taking in a slow breath as she did. “And before you say anything, I already told him that if this is what we do, he’ll earn his way tomorrow. Unfortunately I can't say he has much in the way of gil.” Barret added on noticing the way she was looking.

“I see. Well…” she returned into the building and started rummaging through a nearby desk. “I can’t exactly say I’d be happy turning away one of Tifa’s friends. Even if they seem to be in… unwelcomed company. But if you’re bringing him to me, I suppose you have your reasons.” Marle was rather cold in her statement, which was a surprise to Cloud as Barret realized what she meant. “You mean Shinra? I wouldn’t be worrying about that. Yeah he’s wearing the colors, but I doubt this little lap dog will be in any hurry to return to their side. He’s supposedly on the run.” Barret made it convincing, using what he was told to his advantage, but even he didn’t know the truest extent of that. Marle heard that and sighed as she looked him over. “It would probably be best to find a new outfit if that’s the case. Don’t want folks thinking you’re still one of them, ex-SOLDIER. But fine. You're welcome to stay in the top floor, third room.” She handed the key over to Cloud, her demeanor didn’t change but it was clear Barret had helped enough to make things go in his favor.

“Right. I… will have to consider that. Thank you, Marle.” Cloud spoke softly, thinking about what was just said as the term ‘ex-SOLDIER’ only seemed to ring inside his mind after they said that, but something about it felt correct, even if he didn’t know why. Marle just left it at that, but looked him in the eyes and softened momentarily. “Don’t give us that somber look, now. You’re just like a lot of folks down here, down on their luck and need a place. If you’re serious about helping us out to earn that room, come find me sometime in the morning, I’ll put you to good use.” Marle left them with that and wished them a good night as she shut the door, Barret watching as he saw the look on Cloud’s face.

“Sorry if that was a bit too much. I know this probably isn’t very easy for you.” Barret remarked, showing he only did what he felt was necessary, but Cloud looked over at him and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You were doing me a favor.” Cloud acknowledged as he took a seat on the steps and put the key in his pocket for now, resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward a little, his eyes focusing on the dirt below him. Barret noticed and decided to join him for a moment, wanting to be sure he’d be fine once he walked away. “You might be onto something, anyways. I wouldn’t exactly be chased down if I was still a SOLDIER, so maybe it’s for the best I refer to myself as an ex-SOLDIER. Easier that way. But without that, I’m not sure what else to even call myself.” Barret, in the moment, seemed to understand what that meant as he nodded.

“Well, you’re going to be put to work quite readily tomorrow. Mercenary work up your alley?” Barret pried into how he was feeling as he looked up at the plate. Cloud considered that for a moment as he glanced over at Barret with a nod. “I suppose I could give it a shot. Thanks.” For the first time since they met, Cloud seemed genuine. He may have still felt a mix of things due to his situation, but it was clear he was content with Barret’s help despite everything.

“Just lending one of Tifa’s friends a hand. It’s the least I can do for the girl. But enough of that, try to get some rest, we don’t need you collapsing on us again.” Barret forced himself to his feet with a grunt and stepped away from the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder. “Welcome to Midgar, Merc.” Barret smirked faintly as he started walking away. Cloud looked over at him, thinking about it a moment more before he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. ‘Heh… Zack, you’re not gonna believe any of this.’ With that final thought, Cloud stood up and started to climb the staircase, ready to call it good for the night.

Chapter Text

Off in Sector 5, away from where Zack had left Cloud, the black haired SOLDIER had found himself arriving at the church that sat at the edge of the sector. His eyes wandered a bit as he walked inside, noting the pillars ranging from standing tall to looking ready to give in. It was starting to grow darker so he didn’t want to linger too long, but he had decided to head somewhere most familiar to him, in hopes of finding any form of help that he could get. ‘If I remember right, she did say she came here every day. If luck is my friend, she’ll still be here.’ Zack reflected on the last year and sighed as he scratched the back of his head, a bit of worry on his face as he walked further into the church. As he arrived near the front of the church, by a dilapidated and worn altar that sat between the aisles of seats, he’d hear a nearby door open, accompanied by the faint humming of a young woman as his eyes diverted towards the source of the sound. Zack couldn’t help but smile, his eyes meeting with the now surprised expression of a young woman with long brown hair, neatly braided and kept out of the way of her face.

“No way…” she muttered a little as she dropped a basket she was holding and slowly started walking to him, running a hand down the front of her red dress as she did. “Zack?” She called out, as if she had seen a ghost, but that mixed quite nicely with the way she was feeling, happiness seeping through as she soon stood before him. Zack gave a small smile when he saw her, letting out a bit of an awkward chuckle. “Hey, Aerith. Told you I’d be back.” He told her with a wave, before stumbling back as he felt the girl quickly hug him, Zack stumbling back in surprise as he returned the favor, wrapping his arms around Aerith gently. “Hey, you okay?” He asked as he kept the hug going as she needed, not wanting to break it up yet.

Aerith pulled back and had a tear welling up in one of her eyes before shaking her head, clearly showing signs of relief as she looked him over, slowly letting her hold go as she ran a hand down his arm, taking a slow, careful breath. “Everything’s just fine. I just…” she paused as she thought of what she wanted to say next, mild disbelief in her eyes as she wiped away the single tear. “When you left the last time, a part of me was worried things may not go in our favor. I’m just happy to see you again. But why are you here?” She raised a question as she watched him, Zack putting on a smile when asked as he made an attempt to cheer her up. “Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure I’d be back anytime soon. Things got… a bit out of hand after we last saw one another, but what matters is I’m here now. But now I’m trying to figure out what I need to do next.” Zack began to tell her about it, but was having a hard time putting it into words as Aerith walked back to retrieve her basket, smiling back at him as she listened rather intently. “I mostly came here because I needed to help a friend, a lot came up and this was the only place I could think would be good to bring him to.” Zack seemed to let his mind wander a bit when he said that, doing a quick squat as he moved his arms in a circular motion, deepening his thoughts.

Aerith nodded when she heard that before she started to walk past him, a word never leaving her mouth as Zack blinked and quickly stood back up. “H-hey, wait. Where are you going?” He called out to her as he stumbled to an immediate run to catch up with her. The flower girl chuckled a little when she heard his urgency, smiling at Zack as she turned a little, walking more carefully as she spoke up again. “To find this friend of yours, of course.” She remarked rather bluntly, not giving Zack any real room to argue or question how quickly she seemed to jump at the idea. Aerith glanced back at the flowerbed for a moment as they departed, memories coming to her as she decided to change the subject. “Do you remember how we met, Zack?” She let out a soft chuckle as she stopped at the door, motioning for him to take the lead, the man blinking when he heard the question. Leading the way, he crossed his arms over his chest and thought about it.

“Of course I do.” He chuckled a bit as he looked up at the plate above, his smile wavering very briefly as he thought about it. ‘Only fell into your church because of Angeal.’ He made a remark to himself in silence, but managed to make his smile seem more genuine as he turned his glance back to Aerith and walked towards sector 7 once again. “I fell right through that very roof, I remember you were a bit worried about your flowers.” Zack gave a sheepish laugh as he reminisced, uncrossing his arms and sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants. Aerith nodded a bit as she kept her eyes forward, letting the basket rest on her arm as she did so.

“Yeah. It’s not exactly every day you get to see someone fall from the sky. Let alone without any real damage done.” She remarked, commenting both on the fact the flowers were still intact, and the fact that Zack had even survived such a fall to begin with. Zack sighed, a bit exaggerated when he heard that as he lowered his head and shook it. “Nobody knows that even happened except you. Are you gonna carry that to your grave or something?” He asked her, letting out a bit of a chuckle as he continued leading the way back towards the train station. Aerith thought about that for a moment as if she had really considered the possibility she might.

“I very well could. It’s a fun story to tell.” Aerith remarked, looking around as she tugged at his sleeve to pull him off the path. “Maybe I could tell your little friend when we find him, see what he thinks about his tough, scary SOLDIER friend falling from such a height.” She teased, but she started to look back after they had diverted paths, but continued to try and act like nothing was wrong. Zack noticed and tried to do the same as she did, but upon realizing Zack was trying to take a look, she quickly took hold of his wrist and walked ahead. “Follow me, I have a shortcut we can take.” Aerith knew that she hadn’t even been told where they were going, but it was clear to Zack there was a sense of urgency. Pulling back against her gently, Zack tried to have her face him. “Hey, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Everything okay?” Zack asked her up front, her eyes focused on him. Or so he thought, as the sound of an unknown voice caught his attention.

“Hell, hey there Aerith. Gonna introduce your little buddy here?” He asked with a bit of slyness behind his tone, Zack raising an eye as he let Aerith go and turned to look at the guy. Standing not too far from the pair, a red headed individual who has goggles sitting right under his hairline. A smirk graced his face as he got a good look at Zack, that smirk turning to curiosity at a moment's notice. Zack took this instance to examine him carefully, seeing the man was wearing a decent, well kept black suit with the chest opened up some, showing a white button up shirt underneath it, as well as his chest in the process. Zack noticed he also had a baton in his hand, curious as to why he had it but he didn’t make a sudden move. ‘Good time not to have my weapon. Maybe I should’ve thought this through better.’ Zack thought to himself before he decided to just cut to the chase. “You know Aerith, huh? And just who are you?” Zack seemed to get serious in the moment as he stood before Aerith, sensing that she was a bit uneasy with his presence.

The red headed man scoffed with a smirk and rolled his eyes as he slouched a bit, before standing up a bit straighter and looking Zack right in the eyes. “How hurtful that you don’t know who I am, SOLDIER. Not many wear those clothes out and about, you know.” The man taunted Zack a bit as he made his way closer. “But if you must know, I’m just a little friend of the flower girl, having orders to make sure nothing happens to her. Assumed you’d know that, given your background.” He chuckled a bit as Aerith just tried to play it off, letting his remark roll off her shoulders. “What do you want this time, Reno? I’m trying to help a friend, so please leave me in peace.” She tried to quickly push matters along, Zack getting the hint as he started to step back. Reno, as Aerith had revealed his name to be, smirked again as he noticed Zack backing up.

“Oh, I don’t need anything. Just making sure you get home safely is all~. You sure you don’t wanna consider the boss’s offer, Aerith?” Reno made a bit of a snide remark, which only seemed to aggravate Zack a bit as he glanced at Aerith. “Let’s just leave him, don’t worry about this guy.” Zack remarked and turned to start walking. Aerith decided to do just that and started to follow him, but Reno had a few tricks in mind as he twirled the baton in his left hand, watching them start walking away. “You know you can’t run forever, Aerith. Just accept that and we could make this go smoother.” Reno called out, and even took a step towards them. Zack quickly turned and his hand had a small red aura around it when he did, Reno raising an eye with a smirk. “Oh, this dogs got more than a bark, huh?”

“Leave her alone! I don’t know who you are, or what you know of me, but I won’t let you harass Aerith. Now back away.” Zack’s expression grew firm, Reno not wanting to take the chance as he rested the baton on his shoulder and tapped it there a moment. “Don’t underestimate the Turks, SOLDIER. Just because we ain’t got a fancy title like yours doesn’t mean you’re going to come out on top.” Reno remarked, which gave Zack a moment of hesitation as he raised an eye. Reno sneered momentarily and looked at Aerith once again. “We don't wanna do anything reckless or careless, Aerith. Tseng wants you to come easily so nothing bad happens, so don’t keep running.” Reno made that his final statement, turning and beginning to walk away, pulling out a phone from his pocket as he did, being out of earshot as he started talking to someone. Zack’s glowing hand continued to grow a bit brighter as he watched him leave, before Aerith rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Leave him. He’s not worth your time.” She made it clear almost immediately that she’d rather not focus on this much longer, but Zack could only sigh as the aura vanished, a green materia on his outfit glowing and fading almost instantaneously. He wasn’t quite content with that and decided to push the matter. “How did you get roped up in business with the Turks?” Zack questioned as he crossed his arms, a look of worry showing as Aerith started to walk once more, cuing for Zack to follow along. Aerith seemed to be lost in thought as she silently made her way through the back alley of nearby buildings, showing she was at least somewhat honest about the shortcut situation. “Aerith?” Zack called out in concern, his pace increasing as he followed along and wanted to stand beside her.

“It’s been happening for a long time, since I was little.” Aerith put it simply as she stepped over the occasional break in the path or rock, just to be safe. “Tseng, the man that Reno had mentioned, had been tasked with trying to get me back to Shinra for a long time. Of course, that’s not exactly an easy task, all things considered.” She seemed rather proud of her remark as she showed a half hearted smile, but she wasn’t going to let it show to Zack that she was upset. Zack let out a sigh as they exited the alleyway into a somewhat crowded and messed up section of the slums. Zack noticed a variety of cranes, and elevated concrete and pavement, as well as a bunch of cracks that were a bit suspicious, making him unnerved. “What sector are we even in, Aerith?” Zack asked her as he stayed close, not wanting to put too much distance between them. Zack remembered a few pieces of this place, but in his hurry to find someone to help Cloud, he didn’t quite quickly commit it to memory.

“This is where sector 6 begins, somewhat. You almost certainly passed through here I’d imagine. Where did you leave this friend of yours, anyways?” Aerith seemed invested in helping Zack, but a part of it felt like this was a way to ignore the situation with the Turks, despite Zack’s curiosity about Reno. Relenting for now, he looked around as he started to try and familiarize himself with the area. “If I’m following this trend correctly, it was at the station in a sector over. I remember I passed by a park earlier, but that’s about it since I was in a bit of a hurry.” Aerith acknowledged what he said as she started to carefully walk along the path, being mindful of the debris, and equipment nearby as Zack quickly sped up to keep up with her. “Come on Aerith, at least give a guy some warning if you’re gonna just go for it.” He joked as he kept his senses alert. Aerith smiled at him when she heard his comment.

“What can I say, a girl feels comfortable when her knight in shining armor is here.” She gave a slight tease to her companion as she looked ahead. “But I’m just showing you the way, we’ll be fine. The park in question is right through this area, and beyond that should be a gate to sector 7, so if you remember that park, you’ve come through here.” She corrected Zack’s memories and continued to walk with him, Zack not questioning her reasoning as his eyes scanned the area. “What happened to this place, anyways?” Zack asked her after a moment of silence, Aerith adjusting her basket once more.

“I don’t fully remember the details, honestly. Someone had mentioned to me before that a long time ago, the plate fell due to unknown circumstances. And they just never really bothered to fix their mess.” Aerith motioned to one of the machines, which had the logo of Shinra plastered on the side. Zack looked it over for a moment without even thinking twice. He recognized the symbol almost immediately, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. “Shinra, huh? You’d think they’d try and at least clean up such a disaster, wouldn’t you?” Zack questioned that, crossing his arms as he started walking again, this time causing Aerith to quickly follow behind. She didn’t have much to say about that, a longing look on her face as she looked at the symbol once more, before looking ahead.

“Other than that, this sector has a bit of history. Have you heard of Wall Market?” Aerith asked him, quickly derailing the subject once more, Zack was beginning to think she was a bit too good at that. Before Zack could answer, however, the two were caught off guard by a piercing sound, almost akin to a roar of some kind. Aerith was surprised by that, and looked towards the park. “Hold that thought, what was that?” She quickly started to run ahead, not giving Zack a chance to comment or stop her as he reached for her quickly, to no avail. Zack groaned and shook his head, before he began running after her. ‘Whatever that was, it sure doesn’t sound friendly. But don’t think about that Zack, we have to focus on protecting Aerith if it’s trouble.’ Zack gave his final thoughts on the matter as he followed Aerith through the collapsed and untended street, and into the nearby park. “Aerith, wait!”

Chapter Text

Catching up to Aerith, Zack stumbled to a halt and looked forward at the park as Aerith quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him aside to hide behind a tree, another roar breaking the silence as Zack and Aerith got a bit lower to the ground. “What the heck is that thing? Is that a house…?” Zack seemed to be in disbelief as he examined the creature roaming the park. Aerith peeked around as well, trying to think of what to do. The creature slowly and curiously seemed to wander around the small park, it had what appeared to be mechanical arms, as well as a circular, silver-steel colored head. Its parts seemed to be protruding from a small house, but given its size, Zack could tell it was mostly meant to throw people off. Zack reached his arm back as if trying to grab something, before he groaned a little. “Whatever it is, it sure doesn’t look friendly. Any idea what this thing is?” Zack looked back at Aerith with a whisper, the girl thinking a moment more as she noticed a few decent sized stones.

“The roar was familiar, but I can’t say I know exactly what this thing is. But look…” she pointed to a swing set that seemed to be in a bit of a damaged state, claw marks on one of the swings. “If we don’t do something about it, it might actually cause problems.” Aerith remarked as she started to reach for one of the stones by her feet. Zack nodded a bit as he saw what she meant, and it was clear that Aerith seemed serious about this as well as he examined the area. “Without my sword, I’m not gonna be much use, unless that thing is miraculously weak to magic.” Zack pondered a bit as Aerith tossed the stone in the air for a second, getting a feel for its weight as she agreed with him, realizing that was what was missing this whole time.

Before they could say anything else, they heard a bit of a shout nearby as someone seemed to be conversing with someone, quite audibly at that. “Yeah, looks like something he’d whip up, that’s for sure. What’s the word on Rude?” Zack and Aerith peered from around the tree to see Reno coming into the park from the same entrance they had moments ago. The red head scoffed a bit as he pulled the phone from his ear and pocketed it. “Alone again? Go figure. Sometimes Tseng…” he muttered as he readied his baton, showing he seemed intent on challenging this thing. Zack looked between Reno and the monster as Reno slowly began to pace towards one direction, his focus locked on it as he smirked. “Hey ugly!” He called out, the monster turning its attention towards Reno without a second thought.

Zack watched in surprise as he glanced back at Aerith. The beast started to slowly approach Reno, and Zack got a bit uneasy seeing such. “Stay here. If he fights this thing alone, he’s toast.” Despite how he felt about Reno from their first interaction, he wasn’t content letting something go wrong with others involved. Aerith nodded at Zack in understanding as she put some distance between herself and them as Zack started to walk out from behind the tree, circling around silently. Reno noticed Zack moving from the corner of his eye, but didn’t acknowledge him as he started running towards the monster. The house-looking creature let out another roar as it started following Reno’s lead, charging right at him and readying a claw to swing. Reno smirked seeing that as he quickly stepped to the side and his body flashed, quickly moving as if he was teleporting. Zack watched in surprise when he did so. Reno did it once more and appeared right in front of the monster's claw, swinging his baton to clash with it, sparks starting to fly around him. The beast growled and started winding up his other claw. “Look out!” Zack called out and shot a fireball from his hand towards the creature.

That caught the creature's attention as it started turning towards Zack. Reno did another flash step and pulled away from the creature, the fireball barely missing him as he did so. “Need a hand?” Zack called out as he started rushing the monster as well, readying another fireball. Reno noticed that he was weaponless and grunted, rushing towards the monster from the other side. “I’d be an idiot to say no, but you’re unarmed you idiot.” Reno remarked and quickly struck the beast while its back was still turned to him, causing it to stumble and lose its balance as it ran right past Zack, burying one of its clawed feet into the dirt and turning, quite nimbly at that. Zack and Reno stood side by side as they watched it, Reno scanning the immediate area before he chimed in. “You didn’t leave Aerith behind now did you?” He sneered a bit, thinking the worst as he saw Zack’s gaze intensified at the beast.

“Like hell I would, she’s hiding nearby. Focus on the enemy for now, I’m doing this for her.” He informed him upfront, Reno giving him a simple nod in return as he readied himself, tapping his baron against his shoulder. “By all means. Lead on then, SOLDIER.” He smirked a little, but he didn’t seem against the idea of working alongside Zack, getting the chance to see a SOLDIER up close and on his side was already worth quite a bit. Zack nodded as they both stared down the beast, the monstrous house growling faintly as he hunched over a little and started to try and circle around the duo. Reno kept his eyes glued to it as it did, Zack readying another spell as he started circling as well to keep a steady pace between himself and the best. Reno kept himself focused but decided to comment about it. “Hopefully that materia of yours is potent, otherwise we’re in for a hell of a time.” He seemed serious about that, making Zack nod in agreement, knowing without the sword he was going to only hold himself back.

The house roared out loudly once more and leapt towards the two, Reno dashing out of the way gracefully as Zack leapt to one side, grunting as he landed on one of his palms and somersaulted out of the way, landing on his feet as he turned and shot a fireball towards the creature. Reno leapt into the air when Zack did so and a spark appeared around his baton swiftly as he appeared behind the beast. Swiping at the fireball, the monster left itself open and Reno came down towards it, swinging and landing the baton across the creatures neck, the sparks intensifying as he did before he was forced for push back, kicking his foot against its neck and flying backwards, stumbling but making the landing on his feet. “Not bad, but damn this thing is one sturdy piece of...” Reno remarked, biting his tongue and flash stepping behind the house as a claw came crashing down near where he had just been. “Alright, enough games!” He sneered and swung the baton towards the beast, letting a burst of electricity escape his baton and fly at the creature.

Aerith watched them carefully from behind some debris and started to let her eyes wander a bit, looking for a way to lend a hand as she winced at the surges of magic coming from the duo. “Good thing not many people come by here…” she muttered silently as she started to crouch lower and move out from cover and started heading towards a nearby bench, keeping her head down to try and not luring the beast's attention. “The one time I’m actually thrilled to see Reno at least. But we gotta think of something.” She peered out from over the bench to see Reno colliding with the beast's claw one more, Zack charging towards it and firing another blast, but it was slowly becoming apparent he was growing tired from magic consumption. Aerith had to think fast, and turned her head back towards the path they had come from earlier, slipping away silently as the two remained vigilant against the monster. Zack leapt back when the beast swung and he looked towards Reno. “Wouldn’t happen to have a spare on you, would you?” He called out, Reno stepping forward and swinging, sending a bolt of electricity at the house, watching its claw raise to block it.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a SOLDIER, where’s your weapon at?” Reno grunted, his answer making it pretty clear that he wouldn’t have a solution to Zack’s issue. Zack winced at that but dropped it as he quickly leapt aside and rushed towards the nearby swing set, dropping down and sliding as one of the claws swung over him. Zack leapt up out of the sliding position and grabbed a branch, using his momentum to snap it off of the tree and stumbling down to the ground below, quickly turning to face the beast. Reno noticed and nodded, not saying a word but he had to admit silently that he was impressed by the quick thinking. “Let’s hope this works.” Zack mutters as he runs towards the monster, leaping into the air as he makes eye contact with Reno from the opposite side, the red headed man nodding as he dashed towards his direction to aid him. Another piercing roar escaped as Zack came plummeting towards the monster, readying to clash with it as Reno went for the lower route and charged its underside with his baton.

The monster managed to block Zack from hitting him and managed to knock him back, taken by surprise when the baton struck one of its legs and made it stumble, but it didn’t seem to be affected by it otherwise. Reno grunted, realizing that he wasn’t doing much in the way of damage when it came to the monster. “Would be useful if Rude, or ANYBODY else was here and could give me an idea of what this thing even is.” Reno grew more irate with every passing moment as he got ready again, watching as Zack swung again when he landed, sending a fireball towards the monster. “We’ll have to make due with what we have. Focus.” Zack reminded the man as he panted softly, feeling the adrenaline from moments ago start to finally wane. Reno nodded realizing he shouldn’t be spending this time complaining as he started to look around. Zack took a deep breath, focusing his gaze on the monster once more and ran at it, his look hardening as he did so. The monster house charged at him as he approached, but he didn’t pull back.

Reno stepped back to watch, not wanting to get in the way as Zack started to unleash a flurry of attacks, moving between the legs as the beast made an attempt to grab Zack, stomping occasionally to throw him off, but it wasn’t working. After a few more strikes connected, Zack leapt into the air and brought the branch down swiftly against the head of the beast, sparks flying between the two as Zack pushed back and landed near Reno, stumbling to a knee as Reno winced, rushing to stand by him in case the monster charged. The branch landed nearby, having shattered into a few pieces due to the attack, Zack shaking his head at it. “Damnit, I knew it wouldn’t hold. And it’s still standing.” Zack muttered as Reno ducked down a bit and looked for an opening, the beast shaking its head as if recoiling from the attack. Reno was set to charge it, but both of them were surprised when a ball of light flew past them, hitting the beast right where Zack had connected. “Sorry for the delay.” Aerith’s voice called out as they looked back at her in surprise. “A-Aerith, you gotta get to cover, it’s too dangerous.” Zack warned her, but couldn’t stand as he remained crouched for the moment, Reno stepping back to her.

“Look, I may have been after you but I’m with spiky here, get out of here before this thing makes dinner out of each of us.” Reno was serious, his look one of dedication and worry as he wanted to ensure Aerith would be fine. The girl shook her head in refusal, however, looking Reno in the eye. “I refuse to let you two die, follow me.” She firmly remarked and rushed towards Zack, the beast roaring louder seeing the movement of Aerith and started to lumber towards the two, Reno jumping to action as he quickly stepped past the two and collided his baton with the beast claw, making sure to push back as best he could as he peeked over his shoulder. “Run! I’ll follow you. I just hope you know what you’re doing kid…” Reno muttered as he sent another surge of electricity through the baton, making the beast recoil as it stumbled back and pulled its claw away.

Aerith nodded when she heard that and helped Zack stand, the black haired young man looking at her weakly and chuckled. “Still headstrong as ever. Alright… let’s get out of here.” He started weakly walking alongside her, Aerith doing most of the moving as Reno turned to run behind them, keeping his focus on the monster in case it followed them out. Aerith rushed through the park exit back towards the path they had come from before. “Reno, follow my steps exactly, it’s the only way this’ll work!” Aerith called back to him, getting a nod and grunt of acknowledgment from him as he didn’t seem to question it, watching as Aerith made some specific and nimble movements through the debris, Reno doing his best to keep up exactly as the sound of heavy footsteps followed them through the exit, “damn, this thing is persistent as hell.” Reno grunted as he fired another shot of electricity from his baton to try and keep enough distance between them, but it seemed to not work as it had before as he sneered and just got closer to the two, pushing a bit to try and help speed them up.

Aerith saw the crane nearby, motioning to its lowered arm with a steel beam held up. “This is risky but we’re gonna have to jump! Reno, can you help move Zack?” She asked as they approached. Reno didn’t seem too comfortable with the idea, a bit of unease on his face as he saw where she was looking, but he decided to humor her for now and nodded, going to Zack’s other side and helping him get his arm around his shoulder. “Alright, we’re gonna have to trust each other.” Reno remarked as Zack nodded, not even worrying about that in the moment as they watched Aerith do as she had said, leaping onto the arm and jumping onto a raised platform, heading down the path a bit to give them room. Reno took a deep breath and muttered a silent prayer to whoever might listen as he got to the edge of where he saw Aerith jump and took the leap, Zack doing his best to help as they went airborne, the beast closing in and roaring as it extended its claws towards the two.

Landing on the crane arm, they felt it shift, Reno tightening his hold on Zack as they did and managed to balance themselves, walking off onto the raised platform Aerith had gone to and Reno let Zack go, the man stumbling a few feet but managing to stay standing. The monstrous house made a few more steps, Reno looking back as they heard some creaking. Reno readied himself to fight if it got closer and grunted. “It just doesn’t end, does it?” He called out, before the creaking got louder. Before the monster could jump up to them, the ground around them rattled as Aerith rushed over and moved Zack away from the edge as the ground below the monster finally gave way. “Reno, I’d step back if I were you.” She said bluntly as the beast let out one last, more ferocious roar as the ground gave out beneath it, and it plummeted below the surface, the ground around it falling as well as it swung wildly at whatever it could. After a moment, the area was silent and Aerith let out a sigh of relief. Zack managed to stumble his way over to a wall and let out a sigh, slumping against it as he did and sliding to a sitting position.

Reno rested his hands on his knees and slumped over a bit as well, glancing over at Zack with a bit of a nod before sitting down as well. “Good thinking. But how the hell did you know that would’ve worked?” Reno leaned back to catch his breath as Aerith started to examine the two, putting aside any feelings as she walked over to Reno to check on him. “Truthfully, it was a shot in the dark. I had noticed the pathway wasn’t stable when Zack and I were first heading towards that park. When you two were fighting it I came to investigate a little, thankfully it paid off.” She admitted as she nodded, seeing that neither of the two had any serious wounds, and now were just tired. Reno accepted the answer for what it was as he leaned over a bit and looked at the broken path, shaking his head as he did. “Well, can’t even see nor hear it anymore so I’m going to assume it’s dead and call it good. You alright there, SOLDIER?” He asked, no sense of sarcasm or snark in his voice as he looked back over at them.

“Yeah, I should be fine. Forgot I haven’t had much to eat and haven’t slept in almost two days at this point. The excitement and such seemed to keep me going, but that ain’t lasting much longer.” Zack gave a faint laugh when he responded, but it was clear as day now that he was slowly growing weaker, which Aerith noticed and sighed a little. “We can’t keep going on like this, Zack. Maybe we should turn back and go to my house for now. We can come back to this when you’re actually in a position to fight.” She seemed worried when she saw how Zack was feeling. Reno nodded in agreement with Aerith knowing that they didn’t have much room to argue that.

“What’s waiting for you two in sector 7 anyways? Last I checked you don’t make your way this far very often, Aerith.” Reno asked, standing back on his feet after a moment of rest as he went to help Zack up. Aerith looked at Zack as if unsure she wanted to answer, but Zack took the cue and nodded. “Someone’s waiting for me in sector 7, I left him there when we got to Midgar and I need to get back to him.” Zack remarked, getting a nod of understanding from Reno as the man turned away from them and took a few steps away, looking around with a bit of a sigh. “Well, you ain’t gonna have much luck if you’re collapsing. I’ll lead you two back to her place, and we can go from there. If you’d like, I can send someone to find your friend.” Reno offered, extending a bit of kindness since Zack helped him take on the beast, but there was some apprehension from the two, which was understandable to Reno.

“Will that someone be you?” Zack rolled his eyes as Reno chuckled, shaking his head. “We can worry about that later, you got him, Aerith?” Reno asked as the flower girl smiled and nodded, moving a few strands of hair from her face as she went to stand beside Zack in case he needed help. Reno hopped down from the platform on the other side of the pit they had made, glancing at it as he contemplated what he was looking at. He’d have a lot to explain to Shinra later, but for now he was set on returning the favor for now. Zack leaned against Aerith a bit and sighed, tiredness finally showing as he slowly walked alongside the girl, both staying close to Reno as they did. ‘Please, be okay Cloud. I’ll come back soon.’ He silently thought to himself as he shut his eyes some and stayed close to Aerith.

Chapter Text

Reno looked around at the flowers and plants that lined the path as they approached a building off the beaten path of Midgar’s slums. “Heh, I still never grow tired of seeing this. Don’t know how you manage it but it’s nice to see.” He remarked back towards Aerith as he made his way towards the house. Aerith smiled softly hearing that as Zack yawned a bit but managed to look around, keeping himself going so Aerith didn’t have to actually drag him, but couldn’t help feeling tired after that. “Honestly, mom says it’s a bit of a miracle in itself that this happens. But we’re happy to accept it.” Aerith spoke openly as she admired the sight as well, adjusting Zack a bit so he was able to walk. “We’re almost there, think you can walk?” She asked as she gauged how he reacted to being moved, noting that Zack seemed aware enough so it wouldn’t be too much of an issue. Nodding, Zack stretched one of his arms gently and looked up, seeing it had started growing darker with the passing moments.

“I should be fine, thank you.” Zack couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty with Aerith having to do such, but he could see it on her face that she didn’t mind doing what she could. “So, what’s your plan? Heading back to Shinra after this is over?” Zack questioned Reno as Aerith started to take the lead and walk ahead of the two. Reno raised an eye when he heard the question, his hands sliding into his pocket as he thought about it, shrugging his shoulders as he did. “Well, that’s the plan to an extent, but I’m a man of my word… for whatever that’s worth.” He put it simply, not letting his guard down as he spoke, but Zack could see he at least wanted to make an attempt at showing his appreciation, in his own way. Zack had thought about pursuing it further but decided to leave it be as he heard Aerith arrive at the door, glancing back at the two of them to have them quiet down. The two watched her curiously, as she pushed open the door.

“Mom, I’m home.” Aerith called out as she turned to motion the two inside, Zack walking up the steps and looking around. It wasn’t a big house by any means, and was a bit cramped, but Zack didn’t mind it much as he had a small smile on his face, admiring how it looked. Reno would follow behind, a bit of nervousness behind his actions as he looked around as well. A voice could be heard from the upper floor, Aerith making her way to the stairs. “Stay here, and make yourself at home.” Aerith smiled at them as she made her way up the steps, leaving Zack and Reno alone. Zack took a seat at the table and waited as Reno leaned against the door, lowering his head and shutting his eyes as he let his mind wander a bit. “So, SOLDIER, huh?” Reno spoke in a somewhat hushed tone, not wanting to bother the people upstairs as he struck up a conversation with Zack, the fighter looking over at the redhead curiously when the question came up.

“Well…” Zack started to respond before his gaze made its way towards the table, the man leaning forward a bit as he tapped one of his hands on the surface gently, not sure how to approach the matter as he let out a sigh. “Honestly, I wish to believe that that’s the case. But I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.” Zack began explaining, trying his best to find the right words as Reno looked up finally, acknowledging the uncertainty behind Zack’s words. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” Reno asked him as he pulled his hands free from his pockets and crossed them over his chest, keeping his back planted firmly against the door as he listened. Zack took a deep breath and managed to lean back, his hand still tapping impatiently as he heard that.

“You heard about what happened in Nibelheim, right?” Zack cut to the chase, that name didn’t seem to affect Reno as his look never wavered, but it was clear there was some unspoken tension when that name got uttered. Reno made eye contact with Zack, before a sigh finally escaped his lips as if he was hoping this was avoidable, but he managed to bite back anything he felt. “You mean that mountain town that got leveled and rebuilt? All new and improved with Shinra’s help?” His words seemed to reek of uncertainty as he spoke, Zack looked at the table again briefly as he took in what was said, shaking his head a bit in disbelief.

“So that’s the story they’ve decided to go with?” Zack muttered out in mild annoyance, his tone having grown mildly uneased before he focused on Reno once again. “B-but no, that’s not what I was referring to. Whatever it is they’re telling you to tell others is a farce and they know it.” Zack stood up in a hurry as he said such, his tone rising a bit before he quickly bit his tongue, mostly to silence himself so as to not bother Aerith and her mother upstairs. Awkwardly, he slipped down into his chair once again and sighed softly, shaking his head slowly and methodically. Reno looked at Zack, understanding where his frustrations lied as he sighed. “Trust me, if anyone wants to know the truth as much as you, it’s me. I heard things got nasty at Nibelheim but was told it was ‘best left unheard’… a load of crock if you ask me.” Reno muttered that last bit, Zack not quite sure how to read the redhead upon hearing that as he slouched a little and leaned over the table once more, resting a shoulder on it and letting lit a small sigh as he put his chin on his fist.

“I’m not quite sure myself, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks… months? I don’t even really know how much time passed, I’m pretty sure I was unconscious for a lot of it. But there’s something I need to figure out that happened there.” Zack started to confide in Reno, much to the surprise of the Turk, who perked up a bit and looked his way in curiosity, but didn’t interrupt what he was saying. “Last I remember, everything was on fire. But when I woke up next, we were…” he paused for a moment as he registered what he was saying before he grunted, putting a hand to his head and shaking it softly. “It’s all a bit hazy after that. But I was with Cloud.” Zack seemed to be showing lapses in his own memory, which wasn’t lost upon Reno as the man pushed himself off of the door and went over. “Don’t push yourself. Let me go grab Aerith and see if we can get you something to eat. You look pretty bad, truthfully.”

“Wow, thanks.” Zack let out a small laugh as he looked at Reno in disbelief, the redhead giving him an unamused flat look before he started for the stairs, Zack smirking a little seeing he had made Reno speechless before leaning back slowly in his chair and looking up at the roof. He couldn’t deny that Reno had a point though, forcing it was only going to make matters worse for him, especially due to how much energy he had wasted on today alone. He couldn’t help but let his mind wander to Cloud, putting an arm behind him as if feeling for the sword before shaking his head. ‘Don’t think about that, Zack. He’s fine… I’m sure of it.’ He reassured himself, before he heard some nearby footsteps descending the staircase, turning his attention to who it was. A woman stood there, wearing a simple green dress with a white apron tied around her waist, her light brown hair tied back as she looked Zack over. She had a very faint smile, but her face was firm, and her disposition matched almost perfectly.

Zack couldn’t help but straighten out as he looked at the woman curiously, something about her made it feel appropriate as he did so. “So, you’re the boy Aerith was telling me about. Here I was for a moment worrying it was another Turk.” She muttered before she made her way over to the table and extended a hand to him. “My name’s Elmyra, I’m Aerith’s mother. You must be Zack.” She was surprisingly very kind despite the disposition she gave up, much to Zack’s relief as he realized he was being looked over. “Y-yes ma’am. Zack Fair. SOLD…” he paused when he started introducing himself, before he quickly bit back and cleared his throat. “Ex-SOLDIER, I came here looking for Aerith to hopefully get a little bit of help.” Zack decided to rip the bandage off, now that he was face to face with his girlfriend's mother, he didn’t want to start by having secrets and uncertainties surround him. Elmyra raised a curious eye when he said that, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And just what help is that?” She asked him curiously, not sitting down yet as she watched how he reacted and moved to get a better read on the young man. Zack tensed up hearing that as he wasn’t quite sure how to work it. “Well… it’s a long story. But me and a friend of mine are… well, you see.” He stumbled over his words as he tried to think of how best to explain the present situation, but every attempt he made was cut short by an issue he didn’t know how to approach. Elmyra kept a stern gaze on Zack as she gave him the benefit of the doubt and heard him out, her arms remaining crossed as she tapped her fingers against her forearm. “Just breathe. Let’s talk over something.” She walked past him and let out a sigh, realizing he wasn’t in the proper head space. Zack took a deep breath and watched as she opened a fridge nearby in the small kitchen area, grabbing out a container of juice and pouring out four glasses. “Aerith, you two can come down now, I’m done.” She called out, showing that Elmyra wanted to have a moment with Zack before going forward, which made the SOLDIER a bit nervous.

Aerith made her way back down with Reno, the two seeing Zack lost in thought as they did so. Elmyra brought the glasses to the table, Reno a bit surprised when he saw four as she cracked a small smile. “Why the surprise? You protected my daughter, it’s the least I can do.” She called Reno out immediately, the Turk chuckling faintly and shaking his head as they went and joined Zack at the table, the woman leaving them alone as she started rummaging through the cabinets to find something quick and simple to make for them. Aerith looked over at Zack before giving a small, sheepish chuckle and scratching the back of her head. “Sorry about that. She insisted she see you alone before we did anything. Hopefully that wasn’t too awkward.” Zack looked over at her, managing a smile nonetheless as he shook his head.

“Nah, it’s fine. It’s more just trying to figure out what I’m gonna do now.” Zack admitted as he leaned back and took a drink from the glass he had been given, the realization of how hungry he was finally setting in as he heard his stomach growl a bit, which made him chuckle awkwardly. “Guess we pushed ourselves a bit too much.” He admitted as he finished the glass in a single go, making Aerith giggle as Reno rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Classy, man.” He remarked with a faint smirk as Zack laughed, the ex-SOLDIER taking the moment to stretch his neck and shoulders with a quick roll of both of them. Elmyra glanced over from one of the cabinets and had a faint smile on her face, seeing Aerith happy like this warmed her heart, and it was nice being able to see not every Turk or SOLDIER were truly bad, as many feared. Aerith looked over for a moment and noticed as she returned her mothers smile. “Why don’t you all get washed up, you’ll take my offer right?” She wanted to reaffirm, but had a strong feeling it wasn’t needed. Reno sighed a bit but chuckled to himself seeing as Aerith was looking at him expectantly.

“Sure thing, I’m sure Tseng won’t worry about it too much. Let’s go, Zack.” Reno nudged him a bit as he moved by him, Zack nodding as he stood up and began following Reno towards the stairs, Aerith letting out a soft sigh when she watched them disappear, taking her own seat. Elmyra began working with a pot she had pulled out from under the sink. “So, do you know what he plans to do going forward?” Elmyra raised an eye from her work as she made eye contact with her daughter, the flower girl shaking her head softly realizing what her mother was wanting out of her. “No, ma’am. He keeps mentioning that he is looking for someone, so maybe he’ll make his way to sector 7 proper, tomorrow. Maybe I should join him…?” She remarked as her voice trailed off, realizing that saying that to Elmyta of all people was a risky thing.

“I cannot stop you, we both know that. But are you sure you want to go out of your way to do this?” She asked her, pausing momentarily as she stared down at the pot in her hands, Aerith looking over at her with a somewhat saddened look, before looking down at the table and bringing a hand to her chest. “I think so, he means a lot to me, so the least I can do is take him to Sector 7. I promise I will let you know the moment we decide things might change. Just trust me, please?” Aerith smiled, albeit a bit uneasy, but it was enough for Elmyra to trust her daughter's words, who gave a nod before turning back on the water to finish filling it the whole way. “I do. Now go on, get cleaned up and we can get dinner done.” She chuckled a bit as Aerith got up and rushed after the boys.

Chapter Text

As morning came, at least for what it felt like to Cloud, the blond haired teen groaned a little and opened his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling of the room he had been given. He had hoped, at least to some capacity, that everything that happened the night before was some bad dream, but he knew he couldn’t run from reality for very long. Sitting up, he moved himself so his feet hit the ground and he let out a gentle sigh, looking at the door knowing he had a bit of work coming his way, but he knew it was best to take things slow for now, standing himself up carefully and taking a deep breath. “Guess I should go see Marle.” He made his way for the exit, opening the door carefully as a bit of bright light made its way into the room, confirming to the spiky haired ex-SOLDIER that daybreak had come. He squinted a little and put his hand up to shield his eyes so they could slowly begin adjusting, but he noticed that there was a package sitting in front of the door. “Oh, I thought you’d still be asleep so I didn’t want to wake you.” Marle called out, standing by the stairs as she glanced over at Cloud, having heard him leaving the room. “It’s a welcome gift, after last night I wanted to see what I could do. That way you’re not stumbling through the slums dressed like one of the upper plate folks.” She made her way over as she spoke. “SOLDIER ain’t exactly a color you wanna be wearing down here, after all.”

Cloud was a bit surprised as he knelt down and picked up the box, it was light, and easy to move. “Oh… uh…” he took a moment to compose himself as the older woman just chuckled faintly and shook her head. “You’re welcome. Go ahead and get changed and find me when you’re ready to work, but pace yourself, I’ll be down where you and Barret found me last night.” She remarked and turned away from the boy, descending the stairs without another word, leaving Cloud to linger on his thoughts as he took the package inside. Shutting the door behind him, he gently plopped it onto the bed and started opening it up, carefully opening it up to see what was left for him. A simple black tank top sat on top of a pair of black pants, underneath both being a nice pair of boots, practically brand new. He was taken back by the outfit but couldn’t help but feel touched by the gesture from Marle. “Well… shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Taking the clothes from the box, he went to the bathroom and quickly changed out of his SOLDIER gear. He realized he had been stuck wearing that for a few days, and made it a point to remind himself to show that evening, not wanting to make Marle wait too long. Grabbing the sword he had been given the day prior, and heading for the exit, he glanced back at the room once again and nodded, this was the start of a new life for Cloud, at least for the time being in his own thoughts. Exiting the room, he shut the door behind him and made his way to where Marle had gone, the slums looked quite different at night, and despite what he had believed from his time in SOLDIER, it was more lively than he would have imagined, but it was a well sight, to say the least. Departing the stairs, he heard the approach of footsteps, but it didn’t sound like footsteps from any pair of shoes. Cloud glanced over, his gaze on the path leading back to the bar as he saw Red running up, wearing a cloak over his head as he maneuvered through a small crowd of people. “Miss Marle! Sorry I’m late!” He called out as he brought himself to a halt, hopping a little before pushing his heel into the ground, kicking up a little dirt.

Cloud grunted and stepped back, waving his hand over his face as some dirt flew about before it settled once more, Red noticing and giving an awkward chuckle. “O-oh… sorry.” He awkwardly apologized as he looked away, if his fur wasn’t already an orange-red color, it definitely would’ve been now, feeling embarrassed about his antics in front of the, to him, stranger. Cloud cleared his throat and shook his head. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Marle asks you to help as well?” He asked curiously, remembering the previous night , and the story he had heard from Tifa. Before Red could say anything, however, Marle walked out of her small hut and nodded seeing the two.

“Oh, perfect, if you’re both here I can have you two work together on something bigger. You’re still capable of swinging that thing right, it ain’t just for show?” Marle immediately motioned to the sword on Cloud’s back, the blond boy surprised at her remark before he glanced over his shoulder. “I can handle it, yeah. I’m an ex-SOLDIER after all.” He seemed to get a bit offended at the implication, but it was cut short by seeing a small smile on the older woman’s face, shaking her head the whole time.

“You’ve already failed the first test. What did I tell you up there?” She reminded Cloud, making a motion of her head towards his room, which flustered Cloud a bit as he grunted, taking a step back. Red chuckled a little bit and crossed his arms. “Tifa wasn’t kidding, you really are gonna struggle with this, aren’t you?” His voice was playful, laced with teasing, but behind it all Cloud could tell the boy meant well, and shook his head with a bit of a blush spread across his face. “Don’t worry, it’ll work out. But she’s right, don’t want people to give you weird looks if you keep telling them you’re one of the enemies, as Barret puts it.” Red seemed to be an open book at times, the boy seemed to be more comfortable around specific people, and Marle wasn’t an exception to that.

Cloud nodded a bit, taking note of what he was told, he couldn’t deny that that was probably for the best, but it was a habit that he’d definitely have to break. But for now he knew he had a task at hand. “So, what’s this job you wanted me to do?” Cloud got right to the point, Marle raising a bit of a surprised eye at that but it made her smile, she could respect someone who got right to it. She motioned the two along and started walking along the path, the two following along. “Simple, really. I can’t ask most folks to do this type of cleanup, but there’s a few ‘beasts’, as I’d put them, that wander the less populated areas. At first they were harmless, but we know they’re rejects from up above, and some are a bit more volatile and hostile than others tend to be.” She began to explain herself, glancing back occasionally at the two to make sure they were listening to her. Cloud seemed to get the idea and looked ahead. “And you want us to take care of them for you, I take it?” he asked, but couldn’t help but turn his attention to the cloaked boy with them. He had his reservations but wasn’t quite sure if he was going to be good for the job. This wasn’t quite lost on him, however, as the boy took a few steps ahead to walk beside Marle.

“Easy enough, what are we after this time, ma’am?” Red asked, finding himself to be a bit eager and kind of excited to get started, amusing to both Marle and Cloud. “Cool your jets, kid, we’ll get to that. First we need to get where they’re nesting. Your goal isn’t to wipe out the nest, by the way, just the more dangerous creatures. These creations don’t deserve to be destroyed, just because of where they’re from.” Marle explained, her eyes drifting towards Cloud as she said that, unable to stop herself. Cloud gave a curious tilt of the head noticing the look, but couldn’t get a word in before she turned back towards the path, clearing her throat.

“A…” He was going to pursue what she was getting at, but the words got themselves trapped in his throat as he shut up for a moment, before he changed the question. “And what about him? Is this really a good idea to have a kid join me?” Cloud asked, not too concerned about it, but more curious knowing Barret seemed to be the protective type, but Marle shook her head and seemed rather amused by it somewhat. “Never knock what you don’t know, Cloud. You never know, the younger generation may just surprise you, coming from experience.” She told him, having little worry behind her words. Red had a bit of a proud smile showing, at least from what little of his face they could see.

Marle left it at that, neither of the boys having anything else to add on for the time being, and she would escort them towards the edge of the sector, a bit more barren and no one seemed to be in range, but that was to be expected given the explanation they had been given. “So they usually reside out here? What’s the need for getting rid of them if that’s the case?” Cloud found himself asking as he stepped past Marle, seeing a few animals off in the distance, most of them looked normal, but Cloud recognized a few small details he had seen during his time with Shinra, a look of discomfort on his face briefly as it seemed to strike a nerve within him, but he didn’t want to show it. Marle let out a soft sigh as she heard the question. “If only it were so easy to answer that. While I don’t want all of them being wiped out, the more dangerous ones still pose a threat to the people of our little community. We’ve had a couple of people cut short due to them coming into town.” Marle looked off to the side, Cloud’s gaze following her own as they’d see a few small memorials near the exit of the sector. Red let out a soft, somber sigh when they acknowledged them and he looked away. “That’s why my instructions are specific. Only take out the dangerous one. The most recent one I’ve been told about is a mutant version of what we call a Gorger. They’re already quite the pest, being insect-like, and they don’t differentiate friend or foe, if you’re not a Gorger, you’re a target. However…” she paused for a moment before reaching into her back pocket, pulling out a picture she had been given, handing it to Cloud.

He took the picture, kneeling down a bit as Red approached so that they both could get a good look at it, Red wincing softly as the picture in question was the creature in question, but there were notably more cybernetic parts attached, and pieces of other animals that didn’t quite fit the creature naturally. Cloud, however, remained unfazed as he stood up, keeping the picture for the time being. “These ones were discarded from above the plate, I don’t need to explain that a second time, but they’re dangerous, they attack even the other Gorger’s, and they’ve been given the capability to use magic, not sure if it’s because of those robotic parts, or whatever it is, but I want you to exterminate that one. Do that for me, and I’ll call it good for today, for both of you.” She turned to start heading back into the Sector 7 Slums, not mincing words as she left them to their task.

“Is she always…?” Cloud looked down at Red as he crossed his arms, leaning to one side a bit as he spoke. Red chuckled a little when he heard that. “To the point? Grouchy? Nah, not always. But she takes her job seriously. She stays within the slums, but a lot of the time it’s her that’s coordinating everything. She’s one of the few people this place looks up to, so it’s only natural she’d be like this.” Red told him, adjusting something around his neck that Cloud couldn’t quite make out. “But hey, if it’s any consolation, she clearly likes you. I’ve never seen a newcomer trusted so quickly. Shall we get started?” He asked Cloud, the blond haired boy surprised by what he said.

“What an odd way to show it…” he muttered a little before he turned back towards their destination, and pulled the sword from his back, giving a nod to Red as he started to lead the way. “Anyways, you sure you can handle this? I didn’t expect you to be the one I got paired with, or anyone in general for that matter. Once they were far enough out from the sector, Red loosened his hood and pulled it back, showing Cloud that what he had adjusted was a collar, immediately giving Cloud a look at it to note that there were two green orbs sitting on it, much to his surprise. “Materia…?” He muttered curiously, Red’s ear twitching when he heard that, and chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, I don’t really have a weapon, so we had this custom made… as ironic as it is, I know.” He awkwardly cleared his throat, the irony of being a canine like creature wasn’t lost on him as he took a few steps ahead, motioning Cloud to follow. Red was giving off the energy that this was far from new for him, so Cloud let his worries rest for now. “I use materia to fight, but I’m also quite skilled with my hands thanks to Tifa, she showed me quite a bit that could be done without the need for a weapon.” Red continued to explain, the two traversing the barren terrain together as Cloud kept his guard up, nodding softly as he listened, showing he wasn’t ignoring the kid. “She did huh…?” He thought about that before a small smirk played on Cloud’s face, much to the surprise of Red, who had only seen his more serious, stoic expressions until now. “Well, I’ll be looking forward to seeing it. Now, let’s find this target.”

Chapter Text

Cloud kept himself alert as he and Red made their way towards the destination, the animal boy looking ahead as his ears would occasionally flick and wiggle at the notice of the slightest sound, which wasn’t lost on Cloud. “You’re quite aware, I’ve noticed. Are you always doing that?” He questioned Red, adjusting his grip on his sword as they walked. Red stopped in his tracks when he heard that, resting a paw on his hip while rubbing the back of his head with the other paw, a bit of a sheepish expression on his face as he did. “Honestly I don’t realize I’m doing it half the time. Marlene pointed it out before as well, she said my ears are a giveaway for if I’m listening to everything or not. I haven’t really figured out what she meant by that, but Barret said kids will say things, and it’s up to you to figure out what it means, usually.” He chuckled a little as he explained it, Cloud placing the sword on his back with a nod, adjusting his gloves and arm guards, where the materia he used from the other day sat. He found the statement amusing, given Red being a child himself, but he didn’t think the comment on that further.

“He seems to know quite a bit, but I’ve noticed it’s always vague or randomly placed. What’s his deal, anyways?” Cloud asked, his gaze shifting to Red curiously as the boy started leading them down another path. He had been curious about Barret ever since the night before, especially after the two got a chance to sit and talk, and wanted to dig a bit further. “What do you mean?” Red asked, glancing back over his shoulder to see if Cloud was following him still, hopping up onto a nearby rock and getting a better look. He ducked down quickly when he saw something, however, and gave Cloud a hand motion to wait. “Hold that thought…” he muttered, quieter now as he kept his gaze focused on the direction in question. Cloud gave him a skeptical look before he went to climb up as well, but remained quiet and cautious as asked. Cloud climbed up carefully but kept himself low to the ground as a means to keep himself hidden, his eyes following where Red looked.

“Found our target, it seems.” Cloud commented, whispering as he looked in Red’s direction. The boy nodded softly, and pointed towards the Gorger in question, the monster moved around slowly, yet also sporadically with sudden jerks and movements. “Like Marle said, they’re from the topside of the plate, Shinra doesn’t have use for them so they throw them down here. But…” Red let out a small sigh as he stood up, his gaze keeping focused on the creature as it was moving along the edge of the slums, near a wall that wasn’t too far from them. “These poor creatures don’t ever stand a chance. They’re taken, experimented on, and once they serve their purpose, they can’t even go back to their old lives. Look at it.” Red seemed saddened by what he was saying, but Cloud could tell it came from a place of understanding. He didn’t want to rip any wounds open so he stayed quiet, but he gave a small nod in understanding, showing he at least understood Red’s thoughts.

“Well, if that’s the case, our best choice now would be to put it out of its misery. It’s probably better we stop it where it stands if this is what they do to them. It’s no way for a creature like that to live its life.” Cloud looked towards the Gorger, his grip tightening around his sword as he thought about how best to approach this. Red noticed and got ready as he started forming a fireball in his paw, keeping it floating gently above his fur to avoid burning it, a trick that caught Cloud’s eye. “I’m going to distract it, try to sneak around and let’s attack from both sides. It’ll do us some good to not give it a window of escape.” Red started laying out his thoughts on what he wanted to do, Cloud looking around at their surroundings.

“If that’s the case, try and lure it towards the wall, that way we can have a three point contact. You, me and the wall, so his room for escape is much smaller. If we did it in the open, there’s too many chances for that thing to move to one side and run for it…” Cloud’s thoughts trailed off for a moment, his eyes scanning the area as he’d see a small shack made of rusted, discarded metal, and took his sword to point in that direction. “There. Lead him towards that.” He pointed out, and watched as Red followed his direction. “Got it, get running.” He called out before he slid down off the rocks, and kicked off them as he started running off in the opposite direction. Cloud had a faint idea of what he was doing before he slid down as well and stayed low, making his way towards the shack as a means to prepare himself, as well as get a good look at how Red handled the situation. ‘Well if there was ever any time for him to show me what he can do, it’s now I guess.’ He thought to himself, and readied his sword as he looked it over, giving his gear and materia one last look over, ensuring he was ready.

Red took a deep breath as he stayed hidden behind what little foliage there was in the area, having dissipated the fireball for now to not give his location away. He adjusted his collar some and kept a steady gaze on the Gorger to ensure he wasn’t found out, or detected. Sliding down and getting behind a barrel, he peeked out from the side and noticed a decent sized pebble to his left, and reached to pick it up. “Alright, let’s see…” he muttered to himself, his expression remaining stoic for now as he looked at what he could use to be a distraction. He noticed Cloud sitting by the shack and nodded, the two making eye contact as Cloud acknowledged he was ready. “Here goes…” Red shut his eyes momentarily, before opening them and throwing the pebble into the air, leaping up after it as he back flipped, kicking the pebble with the top of his foot and watched it go soaring through the air.

Cloud stepped aside realizing it was coming his way and grunted when it connected to the shack with a rather loud banging sound, which caught the attention of their mechanized target. Cloud noticed it worked and chuckled faintly as he shook his head. “Alright, show off.” He muttered silently to himself, but a part of him couldn’t deny he was impressed by the boy's feat. Cloud watched as the beast in question turned its attention to the noise and began rushing towards the source, having already caught wind of Cloud in the process. Cloud readied himself and watched as Red leapt up from where he was crouched and chased the Gorger. “Alright!” Red called out as he readied another fireball in his paw and threw it. The Gorger would turn slightly when it heard Red’s voice, and leapt right over the fireball as it started scurrying towards the boy. Cloud grunted, realizing that Red got a little ahead of himself, but he focused on the creature as he started darting after it. “Oh not you don’t…” he muttered and quickly pulled the sword up, ready to swing as he closed the gap between himself and the monster.

Cloud swung his sword overhead and started bringing it down towards the monster in a cleaving motion, the creature pausing for a moment before it leapt to its right and spun in the air, a mechanical whirring faintly being heard as it looked at Cloud with a glowing eye. Striking the dirt, he quickly pulled his sword back and turned to it, seeing the creature spark a little as he did. ‘I don’t like the look of that.’ He muttered silently as he started rushing after it. Red noticed and watched the beast before he gasped. “Cloud, wait!” He shouted out, reaching out to try and grab his arm, only to graze his sleeve and stumble as the creature charged at Cloud. Cloud readied his sword once more and took aim, but was surprised when the Gorger leapt into the air, its mouth starting to form a small energy field of blue and yellow. Cloud swung his sword upwards, striking the jaw of the creature before grunting as a surge of electricity went through his sword and struck his hand, the young man dropping his sword immediately and stumbling back. The creature would land and scurry around, Red watching as he rushed towards it.

“It has lightning capabilities! You can’t swing at its mouth, I believe. I’m not sure what extent it has though.” Red explained as he leapt into the air and did a small somersault midair, coming down towards the creature with his foot showing some fire magic around it. The Gorger’s tail swung around before connecting with Red’s foot, the boy's momentum allowing him to stay mostly upright, but he found his position slipping almost immediately after and stumbled to the ground, followed by the tail swinging around and smacking Red against the chest. Cloud winced seeing that and shook his head, getting his bearings straight as he swung his hand towards the creature, a ball of electricity flying at it as it focused on Red. The Gorger took the blast in stride, however as it started moving within the dust their attacks had kicked up and was now making its way to Cloud, Red struggling to get back to his feet as he looked on. “C-cloud, look out!” He called out, his eyes squinting a little as the dirt aggravated them, unable to tell where anything was. Cloud ducked down and charged towards the buster sword, his focus was like iron as he listened to his surroundings, noticing that Red couldn’t do much with the current situation.

“Get to cover until the dirt settles, kid. I’ll handle this.” Cloud replied as he stood up and kicked off the ground with the sword in hand, surging his own electricity from the materia through the blade and swinging the sword, a bolt of lightning flying towards the dust in an attempt to strike the creature. From his airborne position, ever brief as it was, he could see the creature's shadow loving slightly as he started falling towards it. Red watched, leaping aside when a stray bolt landed near him. ‘Our inability to see anything might get us hurt, or worse… what can we do?’ Red started trying to analyze the situation. Hearing Cloud strike the enemy again, Red grunted and looked around for a moment more, before he had an idea. “Cloud! Jump away from it!” Red called as he threw a fireball into the air, leaping up to get a better look. Cloud didn’t question what was asked of him as he leapt back, landing away from the forger as Red threw a fireball down towards the Gorger, but had it go slightly off target to strike a nearby piece of metal.

Cloud raised the sword to cover his face as some dirt got pushed up and moved around, his focus on the Gorger still as he heard it moving around, but lowering his sword he could see that everything had started clearing as Red ran up. Leaping up once again, Red spun around in the air and brought his paw down against the top of the beast's head, before flipping back onto the ground and turning, punching one of its legs to throw it off balance. “Huh? What did you do?” Cloud asked as he readied his sword and rushed at the monster, which leapt to one side and fired a bolt of electricity at the duo. Red smirked as he sidestepped and charged towards the creature. “Used the heat from the fire magic to alter the location of the dirt in the air, and get rid of any that were in its way. Using the sheds scraps helped since I could hit something that wasn’t dirt.” He explained as he followed Cloud, who was surprised, but also impressed at the boy's quick thinking.

The Gorger began scurrying back and forth as it seemed to try and process the two different actions coming its way, before leaping towards Cloud. Red watched and leapt up, spinning around to kick it as Cloud ducked aside, not able to raise the sword in time. “Nice kick.” Cloud nodded as he watched the Gorger fall to the ground, using this as a chance to attack as well and took a heavy overhead swing towards the creature and managed to snap off one of its limbs, the metal parts sparking as it made a screech of pain. Red winced at that as he stepped back, the sound catching him by surprise. “It didn’t seem to like that.” He remarked in turn as he charged a fireball and chucked it at the beast, Cloud stepped back to let him do so. “We should hurry this along and put it out of its misery.” He reminded the boy as he charged ahead, Red landing as he nodded in agreement. The pair would approach the creature, and as it makes another lunge for Cloud, the two swing. Cloud striking with his sword, while Red followed up with a kick, his foot glowing red slightly as it connected. The Gorger fell to the ground, twitching a bit as it tried to catch its bearings. Cloud took a deep breath and approached it.

The two saw how it moved around and realized it was somewhat in agony, they exchanged glances seeing it. Cloud raised his sword and swiftly pushed it through the creature, wincing as it made a sound before going limp. “Damn Shinra…” Red muttered as the dust settled and they were left with the felled creature. Cloud just stared at it for a moment as he raised his sword and attached it to his back once again so it stayed in place. “To think that’s what’s going on above us. I didn’t realize it was that… bad.” Cloud didn’t have another word to use, crossing his arms a bit as he looked towards Red, who seemed saddened by it. The kid knew how to fight, Cloud couldn’t deny, but seeing the end result still clearly bothered him. Red turned and began walking back towards the slums in silence, Cloud nodding as he started following along, noticing the boy wasn’t keen on saying anything else.

Cloud glanced over his shoulder, seeing a few of the actual Gorger’s surrounding the creature, but he left it at that.

-

Having departed from Elmyra’s home, Reno led the way through the slums, the group returning to where they had defeated the house like monster end day prior. Saying her goodbyes to her mother for now, Aerith made it clear she had no intention of staying back. “So, how far from here until we get to sector 7?” Zack asked, scanning the area as the park was almost back to normal, as if nothing had happened. A few notable spots of debris from the monster's attacks, but otherwise it seemed normal. “Shouldn’t take too long, really. If I remember correctly there’s a bar there, it’s a good place for you to go if you’re looking for someone.” Reno had gotten some info out of Zack the night before, choosing to stay with them and telling the others that they didn’t have to worry. He was curious about what Zack’s deal was more than anything, and being able to keep an eye on Aerith was a plus.

Passing through, Aerith took a deep breath and let out a rather somber sigh, she had felt worried about the events from before, and wondered how many people that monster could’ve hurt. “You alright?” Zack asked, not even glancing back as he could tell just by listening she was uneasy. They didn’t stop their trek, but Zack slowed down so he could walk beside her. Aerith looked over at him and forced a smile to try and play it off. “Oh. No, it’s fine. Just thinking.” She explained, giving a loose explanation for her reaction, even if she didn’t believe it either. “Reno… what exactly was that thing from yesterday, by the way? I don’t think we’ve actually brought it back up.” Aerith ripped the bandage off, wanting an answer. Reno kept walking as he heard the question, slouching a bit as he took a few wider steps, his hands slipping into his pocket.

“Truth be told, I couldn’t tell you. And not because of some weird Shinra loyalty thing. I haven’t even seen that before myself. Not exactly my pay grade.” Reno shrugged it off, he was surprisingly calm for someone who had never witnessed such a thing before. Aerith and Zack exchanged knowing glances, both either believing him and knew it bothered him… or they didn’t trust what he said. “So even the Turks aren’t told everything? You’d think being the president's personal unit would give you some form of express access.” Zack crossed his arms as he spoke, calling out to Reno as he started walking a bit quicker. Aerith nodded and followed suit as the two got beside Reno. His eyes remained focused on the path ahead, but his expression was a mixture of empty and curious, which was odd for him.

“You’d think that, huh? But no, outside of Tseng, we aren’t really given stuff like that. Our access is higher than the average SOLDIER, but really it only gets us so much. Like a glorified babysitter for the SOLDIER’s at times.” He shrugged as he straightened out, a small smirk playing on his face. “Kind of like what I’m doing now.” He teased Zack a bit, looking over to see the black haired man roll his eyes, but had a small smirk himself showing he wasn’t going to deny him that one. “Still, it doesn’t bother you if that is the case?” Zack questioned further as they got through the park and could see sector 7 not too far from them. Aerith smiled a little seeing the sector and took a few steps ahead, already eager to get away from the park, and it was exciting to be somewhere new.

“Not really. I guess I just never really thought about it. Do as you're told, handle the occasional dirty deed, and go out for drinks. Go to bed and repeat. I guess it’s just how I’ve accepted things for the last couple years.” Reno shrugged as he watched her go off ahead. “I’m not really sure what else you’d expect out of a job like mine. But then again, most people don’t really know the Turks until they’ve got business with us.” Reno expressed, seeing Aerith get further ahead and shook his head. “Aerith, wait for us!” He groaned and started to pick up the pace, not trusting the area as there were hints of concern in his voice as he followed her. Aerith turned around and smiled, her hands behind her back. “I’m not gonna leave you in the dust, don’t worry. But hurry up, Zack’s got a friend waiting and it would be rude to keep them much longer.” She giggled a bit showing she was messing with them now. Zack chuckled as he slowed down and looked around the surrounding area carefully, Reno’s words sticking with him for a brief moment.

‘That’s all it is to you, Reno? Or are you just trying to avoid something?’ Zack wondered, the sight of the bar in question coming into view, a content sigh escaping his lips as he started rushing after the other two. “Hey, wait for me!” He chuckled. ‘Sorry to keep you waiting, Cloud. I’m coming for you.’

Chapter Text

Cloud watched Red start rushing ahead as they made their way back into the main area of Sector 7. The boy looked around as he looked for Marle, leaving Cloud to catch up for the time being. Cloud took the moment to get a better look at the surrounding area, not having had much chance to do so since he had arrived, as well as being put to work as soon as he was awoken. Everyone seemed to go about their day with little worry or concern, which was an immediate thing Cloud took notice of. ‘They call it the slums, and honestly I’ve heard they’re not that well off this far below the plate. But I’ve seen nothing but good from the people around me.’ Cloud thought to himself as he walked at a slow pace to take it all in. The buildings were run down, and old. But despite that, they held up well. “Cloud, hurry up! Don’t wanna keep Marle waiting.” Red called out as he finally noticed that the SOLDIER had stopped short of their destination.

Cloud looked over, seeing Red waving him over before he gave Red a nod and started making his way over. “Sorry, I was just thinking.” Cloud explained, not really delving deeper than that as he soon caught up to the creature. Red nodded a bit as he adjusted his hood some, having raised it now that they were in the main area again. “Everything alright? I noticed you sometimes will do that.” Red asked, sincere in his question as he looked up at Cloud, a hint of curiosity behind his actions as he did. “Is it Tifa? Or whatever brought you here?”

Cloud was taken by surprise at that, the kid had almost nailed it on the head, for better or worse. Cloud gave a forced, light hearted chuckle at that and shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Just a lot on my mind since I got here. Let’s go see Marle and let her know we finished.” Cloud tried to play it cool despite everything, the young man clearly unsure himself. Red noticed it but he didn’t linger too heavily on the prospect, knowing that if he wanted to share it, he would eventually open up. Or at least he hoped. Red gave him a simple nod before he motioned him along, walking ahead once again as Cloud started to pick up the pace once again. As they got further into the sector, they’d hear some faint commotion nearby as Cloud slowed down and looked around, Red stopping in his tracks before he raised his hood quickly, realizing there were quite a few new people around. “Huh, this isn’t normal.” Red noted, his voice a bit more than a hush as he moved towards Cloud to stay close to a familiar face.

“I wonder what happened.” Cloud muttered, noticing Red’s sudden shift before he gently put a hand on his shoulder and moved him away from the crowd, the two making their way towards the housing that Marle ran. Standing outside her office, the older woman was watching the crowd skeptically, not sure what to make of current matters, but she quickly broke her focus when she heard the approaching footsteps. “Oh good. With all this commotion, I was starting to worry something bad happened. Did the monster give you too much grief?” She showed, if only for a moment, a hint of concern, but her stoicism returned almost immediately. But Cloud and Red could tell just by looking at her that seeing them had taken some form of weight off her shoulders. “I wanted to send someone to get you too, but I didn’t want to risk things getting out of hand, even if it might be okay.”

“I’m confused, what’s going on Marle?” Red asked her, moving away from Cloud and looking at the older woman. Cloud crossed his arms, his gaze turning so he was looking at the crowd, people seemed to be mostly gathering towards Tifa’s bar, and he looked aside thinking about it. “Nothing to concern yourself over, little Red.” Marle spoke, her tone and demeanor towards the boy was gentle, very kind and a bit subtle. The boy seemed nervous when he heard that but he didn’t have reason not to trust her. “Why don’t you run home and be with Barret, I have some things I wish to discuss with our new SOLDIER boy here.” Marle seemed keen on getting Red away from this situation, whatever it may be. Red looked at Cloud, a hint of wonder as if asking if he’ll be fine could be seen under his hood, in which Cloud gave a nod, assuring him of whatever fear he may have had. Red sighed before he turned and started to rush towards 7th Heaven.

“You aren’t exactly the best liar.” Cloud waited until Red was out of earshot before he finally addressed Marle properly, the woman looking at him with a bit of surprise when he broke the silence. Marle let out a sigh, unamused by the sass of the boy but she couldn’t deny he was reading through her words. “I suppose you can say I don’t want Red to worry about it. He may be capable with his fists and quick on his feet, but he’s still a child and they shouldn’t have to worry about potential fears.” Marle would further explain her intentions, keeping an eye on the crowd as she spoke. “But I did it also to speak with you a bit more privately.” Cloud raised an eye when he heard that, but he didn’t seem to veer away from the discussion when she spoke.

“What’s the matter?” Cloud asked, acknowledging he’d be listening to her for the moment. Marle took a moment to shut her eyes and gather her thoughts, before turning to him. “You need to be cautious. I’m not entirely sure who, or what, they sent but people are on edge because there had been sightings of a SOLDIER and a Turk wandering around. They and some strange young woman accompanying them. Nobody knows why they’re here, but I figured you would at least wish to know to be careful. If they came looking for you I can’t imagine they’ll be friendly.”

Cloud turned his attention back to the crowd. He had heard of the Turks before a few times, but he hadn’t quite had the luxury of meeting them himself. As for the SOLDIER, a part of him had really hoped this would mean he could see Zack again. He hadn’t been one to show it quite openly but he was a bit disheartened, and the passing moments only seemed to make his worries for Zack grow further. “A Turk. Shinra’s covert team, usually sent to divert any attention from Shinra and to have someone dirty their hands for them. Unless news finally began to spread that there are two SOLDIER here, I can’t imagine they had sent them for us.” Cloud muttered to himself, but Marle was no oblivious fool, a skeptical look on her face when he spoke. “Two of them? So you weren’t alone?” Marle questioned him further. Cloud grunted in surprise realizing she had heard what he said, and uncrossed his arms.

“Tifa and Barret…” he paused for a moment as he still wasn’t sure about the details, a sigh escaping his lips as he turned away somewhat. “They found me after I had been left in this place by a friend of mine. A man named Zack. He is a SOLDIER, like me…” Cloud tried his best and explained what he meant, Marle listening intently as she could thoroughly piece together what he had been through. “I see. He must’ve brought you here for a reason if that’s the case. I can’t imagine if you are friends with him that he’s a problem. My fear does linger with the Turk though, I doubt you’re all buddy buddy with Shinra’s dirty workers.” Marle added a small jest at the end, making a bit of a lighter situation, one that Cloud was rather grateful for. “Last I heard, they were heading for the bar. Go and see them for yourself. We can discuss the bounty I had you do later, when there aren't more important matters at hand.” Marle dismissed herself as she entered her office, not giving Cloud a moment to answer before he sighed and looked in the direction of the bar, maybe he could catch up to Red.

—

“I’m telling you, there hasn’t been someone like that here. What does a Turk want with him anyways?” Tifa’s voice echoed somewhat around the bar as she eyed Zack, Reno and Aerith. “It’s one thing for someone like her to come here, but I don’t exactly know what some of Shinra’s thugs could want down here.” Tifa kept herself ready, clearly a bit on edge as she spoke with them. She leaned forward against the bar with her hands firmly placed against the surface to allow for easy movement when needed. Aerith stepped aside realizing that this might’ve been a bad idea. Just walking into the bar probably didn’t sit well with some, especially given the reputation the Turk’s had down under the plate. “Look, I already told you, a buddy of mine was left by the train, and I’m trying to find him before things get any worse.” Zack wasn’t exactly the shining example of subtle, or being very clear on what he meant, and that was becoming quite apparent to Reno, the Turk rolling his eyes a bit and crossing his arms as he let him do the talking. Reno knew his reputation in the slums was far from ideal, and he decided not to make matters worse.

“Well as I said, nobody of the sort had come this way. Unless you want to wait for Barret to get back and see if he knows anything.” Tifa lied, but she didn’t quite believe what they were saying. Aerith finally spoke up and moved towards Zack. “Maybe it’s best we go elsewhere and look, there’s a chance he could’ve gone a totally separate way around here, maybe towards Wall Market?” She didn’t like the idea, and felt uneasy even suggesting it, but she also could tell Tifa was, at least to her, being honest. Reno winced a bit hearing that as he glanced up at the ceiling of the bar.

“If that’s the case, and he’s anything like Zack described him as, he’s gonna get devoured by the under-city without a second thou-.” Reno began but was quickly cut off by Zack. “Don’t say that! Cloud may be a bit disoriented right now but he can still handle his own… even if he is most likely far from better.” Tifa heard Zack’s words, and grit her teeth, a hand clenching into a fist subtly as she tried to not break her character. Were they being honest? Were they telling her the truth? Or was this a ruse to get her to reveal what she knew. She couldn’t think of much past that as the bar doors opened up, Tifa turning to look around them as she saw Red rush in, Cloud not far behind. ‘Damn it Cloud, your timing is impeccable as always.’ She went around the bar and rubbed Red’s head as he went to quickly stand by her side.

“What… is going on here?” Cloud managed to ask as he saw the small crowd of people, before he looked at Zack, a bit of surprise on his face as he rushed to him. “Zack!” For the first time since Tifa could ever remember, Cloud broke his usual stoic and quiet demeanor, a sense of relief seeming to simultaneously come over her and Cloud as they had different reasons and feelings. “Cloud, thank god.” Zack walked over to him, checking him out in a wave of relief. “When I came back for you, you had gone off somewhere. What happened?”

Cloud took a moment to process the question, but he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to answer it, trying to relax as he managed a smile looking at Zack. “I don’t quite remember. What I do remember was we were outside Midgar, we got attacked by some SOLDIER troops, next thing that comes to memory is Tifa finding me alone.” Cloud began to explain what he knew. “Before that, it’s mostly a haze, only a few memories are actually… coherent, and clear. I don’t remember why… we’re here.” Cloud trailed off, Tifa watching with a bit of surprise. Cloud seemed to be rather open with Zack, something she doesn’t think she had quite seen before. Zack seemed puzzled, and a bit uneasy

Tifa sighed a bit seeing Cloud get taken by surprise by the question. She realized the jig was up. “Look…” she began as she leaned against a nearby pillar of the building structure and looked at them. “I lied because… I didn’t want you guys hurting Cloud. But we found him out by the train station, alone and barely coherent. I had assumed he made it here alone, somehow.” Tifa began to explain, Zack seeming to get it as he nodded, even if he felt a bit disgruntled at the circles he had taken with Tifa moments prior. “But I had taken him here because I hadn’t seen him in years and wanted to see if this even was the same person I knew… back then.” She trailed off at that last part as she pushed herself away from the pillar. Zack immediately connected the dots, blinking slowly as he looked at her. Before he could open his mouth and say something, Reno spoke up.

“I guess I should’ve waited outside if that’s the case.” He realized immediately that his presence was probably the furthest from welcome. “But yeah, this muscle brain is a friend of Cloud’s as well it seems.” Reno seemed to understand what happened to some fuller extent, at least in the context of what had been presented to everyone. That said, there was still one burning question Tifa had. “But that doesn’t exactly answer why you’re here, Reno. I told you before it’s best you don’t come around here so what gives?” Tifa ripped off the bandage showing there was some history between the two, Reno looking at her in surprise, with a jokingly sarcastic look of disbelief. “You wound me, Tifa? A guy can’t just happen to be in the area and wanna see his favorite bar?” His tone was dripping with sarcasm, but it seemed… oddly good natured, something that seemed to surprise Tifa slightly as she watched how he acted. “But seriously, it’s actually quite a long story.”

Tifa crossed her arms looking at Reno curiously, she didn’t say anything but it was clear she was at least going to hear him out. Taking a deep breath, Reno began. “Putting it quickly, I was here checking up on Aerith here, the flower girl. That escalated and I wound up getting roped into whatever it was Zack was doing. There was a monster attacking the park nearby and we had stopped it. I figured the least I could do was get Aerith home safe.” The story was believable, Tifa having a hard time finding any flaw in it before letting out a sigh. “And I take it that since you’re still here, you were actually worried the monster may return?” She deduced, and while that was maybe only a part of it, Reno was impressed she hit the nail as accurately as she did. “Well, given the circumstances I’ll ignore it for this one time. Thank you.” Tifa looked Reno dead in the eye, the redhead surprised to be given a thanks in that moment.

Before he could answer, Cloud chimed in looking at Zack. “Monster? It couldn’t have been that bad, could it? Red and I were just tasked with some monster clean up not too long ago, so they didn’t seem that bad.” Red nodded in agreement, showing that Cloud wasn't making it up. As Reno was about to chime in, Zack crossing his arms as he thought about it, the bar doors swung open as Barret made his way inside, followed by a trio of individuals. “That’s because it isn’t like the ones you and my boy are tasked with. It was a Shinra experiment. I heard the commotion last night and asked Biggs and Wedge to investigate. I don’t know who you are, SOLDIER boy, but you and Reno did something surprising.” Locking eyes with Zack, it was almost immediately clear to Barret that he was like Cloud, but he could sense that Zack was a bit more able to know what was fully going on.

“I’m still not sure what that even was. All I know is it came from Shinra… one of Hojo’s experiments.” Zack muttered the last part, his mind wandering to what might be happening above the plate. Red’s ears perked a bit when he heard Zack muttering. Going behind the counter, Tifa noticed with a soft sigh and motioned to Barret. The man grunted but said nothing further as he made his way past the group to follow Red. Zack noticed and let his shoulders relax, slumping them a bit. “Did I say something wrong?” He questioned, while Aerith and Reno remained silent for the time being.

One of the trio that had accompanied Barret chimed in, a young man who was about as tall as Zack, having a similar build with short black hair, and notable blue eyes. He spoke smoothly, despite looking a tad rugged he had a rather nice voice. “No, it’s nothing to worry about. People down here don’t particularly care about Shinra, especially a particular scientist. The name can make some people feel rather uneasy.” He explained before he approached Zack and Cloud, managing a smile as he extended a hand. “The name’s Biggs, by the way, that’s Jessie and Wedge behind me. Barret already got us up to date on Cloud here, but I’m not sure you’ve come up yet.” Cloud shook his hand when he was addressed, before Zack did the same.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. My name’s Zack. I’m an Ex-SOLDIER. I was actually coming here to find Cloud. We had stumbled our way here from who-knows-where, and got separated for a while. I guess Cloud already has a few new names to remember.” Zack chuckled a bit and playfully nudged Cloud with his elbow, making the blond boy gasp in surprise before stumbling back. “Really funny. I wasn’t even sure where I was when Tifa found me though. What happened, Zack?” Cloud asked, which led to Zack tensing up a bit, unsure of how to answer. Biggs motioned the other two he was with to find a table, knowing this might take some time. A brunette girl with soft pale skin and gentle green eyes followed a larger, somewhat chubbier individual, both seemed curious about Zack, and had rather kind dispositions just from their actions, something Zack noticed.

“I guess now is as good a time as any to start explaining. Hopefully this many people isn’t a bother, Miss?” Zack awkwardly chuckled when he looked over at Tifa, who gave him a bit of a flat look, shaking her head before smiling. “Just Tifa’s fine. It’s the slow hour anyways, the bars yours. I want to hear this myself anyways.” She nodded and went to grab some glasses and began getting some water for everyone, Zack going to join Biggs and his group at the table, Aerith, Cloud and Reno gathering around as well. “I guess I’ll start at the beginning, what lead us to Midgar.”