By: De Mouse

: K-chan

"-" conversations
{-} personal thoughts
italic flashbacks

[CHAPTER 1: THE LAST PAGE AND THE FIRST]
[PART 1: STARTING OVER]
rewritten 19/4/2000

At North Corel which lay several days journey from Midgar, the smell of fresh pinewood blended with the scent of wild flowers filled the air with its rich fragrance. The once dusty, narrow pavement serving as a main road was now carefully tilled. Small shamble looking shops strayed by each side of the road, selling all sorts of goods. Many took refuge in selling food and other edible things while others tried their luck in house appliances.

Further down the road, houses mushroomed out from the dusty ground. Many looked new and there was more building in progress as North Corel finally began to grow.

Tifa Lockheart stared out of the open window watching the children play in the streets. The cool morning breeze entered the room causing the curtains to rustle. A smile crossed the dark haired woman’s fair face as she watched the little kids attending to their childish whims. Tifa’s smile broadened when she saw a dark skinned man standing in the midst of giggling children. On his broad shoulders sat a petite little girl with short light brown hair.

Marlene squealed happily as her dark skinned father gave her a piggyback down the road. Her brown hair caught the honey gold sunlight while she bounced on Barret's shoulders. Many other small arms stretched out in the duo’s direction while their little owners demanded a piggyback as well.

Although, the construction was so bad until it gave the word "dust storm" a new meaning. That however did not cause the children to end their play in the streets. Innocent laughter adding to the colorful flowers scattered all over the place gave North Corel a homely aurora.

It was evident the villagers were trying their best to make North Corel look better. Tifa swiftly compared the area with what she had seen several months ago when she stepped into North Corel.

She still remembered how tiny the town started out and how desolated it looked. Worn looking tents with their bony posts sticking out from the ground like skeletons. Yellow soil that seemed to go on forever and forever, containing no vegetation at all. Dead, gauntly trees stood from the ground, their thin branches clawing towards the sky. Metal scraps lying uselessly on the floor intent on tripping anyone whom were not aware.

Now Tifa could see how vastly the town improved. Barret did good on his word when he told them he would give Marlene a good home. The dark haired woman chuckled, thinking of the large man towering protectively over the fair skinned seven-year-old.

Right after Sephiroth’s reign of terror had ended, Barret was intent on being a role model to his daughter as well as a good father.

She smirked recalling the lively debate Barret had with himself about taking off his artificial arm as a first step in being a good dad. It was a comical scene watching him pace back and forth arguing with himself during their last days at Kalm. Although as the result, he did nothing to remove the artificial arm but it was a sight worth being an audience to. Tifa giggled at the distinctly hilarious memory.

Cid Highwind played a great role in assisting them move from Kalm to North Corel. The slender woman glanced out into the blue sky. Barret had somehow got in touch with the blonde pilot and asked him to help them move which the Highwind captain was only happy to comply.

Tifa was eternally grateful to the Highwind captain for his help. She would hate to drag her luggage across the ocean towards the next continent even if she were travelling on a gold chocobo. Not only her things would end up soaking wet but also the journey would leave her physically exhausted. The dark haired woman had experienced it plenty of times during the wild goose chase for Shinra and Sephiroth and that alone was enough for a lifetime.

The 21-year-old absently chastised herself for complaining so much. Looking down at the job, which she had abandoned during her train of thoughts, she glanced rather guilty at the half-unpacked bag sitting on her lap. Almost empty, the duffel bag looked as though it had seen better days.

After making a quick survey of her new room, she half-heartedly chucked the large duffel bag into a closet. Unpacking was not one of her favorite chores. The moment she reached North Corel she had dumped most of the contents of her bag onto the dressing table. As a result it now looked like a miniature dump yard.

Sighing, Tifa picked up a few accessories from her dressing table. Little shiny trinkets she picked up from her little shopping expeditions. She spared a glance at the short row of clothes that hardly took a quarter of the narrow closet. Unlike other women, her wardrobe was skimpy caused by the miserable lack of time to shop or rather lack of interest in that matter. Her attention strayed back onto the dressing table. The brown eyes caught the sight of a dog-ear journal under the stack of loose papers. Leafing through the book, she exclaimed a short gasp of surprise.

{I thought I’ve lost it}

Worn pages containing photos, haphazardly written words, self-drawn pictures by a not very artistic hand complemented with plenty of doodles. She smiled fingering a group photo of the gang during their first visit at Del Costa. Barret stood in the middle and Cait Sith peeking out behind him. Yuffie sat cross-legged on one side of the photo. She had a wide grin on her face for some reason. Tifa smiled an echoing grin on her own face as she remembered how the ninja girl carted off a whole bundle full of materia from one of the shops.

In front of the mischievous teen sat Red 13 who looked rather amused. No doubt he knew what Yuffie was up to.

A young lady dressed in pink stood near Barret. Serene green eyes gazed at the camera while a faint smile drifted across the pale face. Next to Aeris, a younger version of Tifa stood in her usual confident pose. A small smile played on the edges of her lips. Vincent and Cid had not joined them in their quest yet.

At the left side of the picture, slightly apart from the rest, stood a young blonde man. His blue eyes strayed from the direction of the camera in an almost thoughtful look.

Tifa slowly closed the book, thinking about all the good and bad times they had. The memories they had together along with all the adventures they encountered. Somewhere a feeling of remorse slowly built up in her. It was a long time since the group got back together.

{I......I-I miss him........}

Before she could place the worn book onto a bookshelf, a small photo slipped out from its pages.

Curious, she bent to retrieve it.

On the picture was the same spikey-headed blonde but in this picture the blue mako eyes were glancing at the camera. There was a hint of surprise in the glowing azure orbs making it obvious the photo was a surprise shot. Aside the surprise in Cloud’s eyes, he looked relaxed and happy with the clear blue sky behind him. The sun outlined his blonde hair making it look like spun gold. In his hands instead of the Ultima weapon, he offered a small yellow daisy. His normally grim face lit up with laughter, a teasing smile playing on his lips.

Tifa gently traced the outline of the picture.

Ever since they had defeated one of the deadliest and evil being on the planet, the group decided all of them should spent some time with their families. Tifa had naturally thought that Cloud would follow her back to Kalm. There they would stay together and build a closer relationship.

But he proved her wrong. Their group leader, saying that he had finally fulfilled his destiny and that he was tired so fate should leave him alone for awhile, left. Leaving them only with the memory of his half-smile and a promise that he would call.

Of course everyone was surprised at his sudden decision. They naturally assumed after defeating Sephiroth, Cloud and Tifa would resume their relationship and maybe even leading to marriage. It was a shock but they did not voice their opinions. The boy had gone through a lot in his short years. He had his rights to manage his own life. After so many events, Cloud at most earned their loyalty if not, respect.

Tifa was disappointed but instead said nothing.

The young man seemed content after the whole ordeal. Cloud had not left them an empty promise, from time to time he would drop by to say a simple hello. He enjoyed the peace and quiet, letting life unravel at its own pace. It was confirmed by the absence of the frequent brooding look on his face. Something he had always said he dreamed about but could never manage to achieve. Tifa by no means intend to destroy that fragile peace. It was the last thing she wanted to do.

Even though she felt he still left many events from the past unsaid, Tifa figured it was best to leave things as it is since there was no purpose in doing so. Actions to reveal the past prompted by mere curiosity were ignored. She was fully aware that they could inflict more harm than anything else to Cloud.

Still, everything was okay even though her relationship with Cloud had gotten nowhere past the friendship barrier. They came closed to the bestfriend stage but stalled, as Cloud did not do anything to take their relationship to the next level.

He just, well, left it hanging.

Hanging wasn’t the exact word to describe the situation. The word ‘hanging’ was too weak a word. ‘Deserted’ was a better word to replace it.

Tifa suspected Cloud was still a little raw from Aeris’s death. Ever since the incident in the Forgotten City, the blonde boy shied away from any form of intimate relationships. Everyone grieved over her death but Cloud was the longest. The Ancient seemed to be deeply engraved in his heart. If not, his mind.

Although she too mourned for her friend’s sudden death, Tifa could not help feeling the stabs of jealousy when she saw how much it affected Cloud. She often wondered if she had died would he grieve for her too like he did for Aeris. Would he miss her just as much or maybe even more?

She placed one gentle touch on the picture.

But still, Cloud could not be accused of his emotions. He needed some time to think it over. Some time to get over her death and move on. Maybe then, she could finally tell him how she felt towards him. Until that time, Tifa backed away from Cloud, giving him room to breathe and sort things out on his own. By and by, he soon would recover from the emotional pain.

She gazed at the picture.

{Cloud....do....you miss me too?....}

A loud slam from the door adverted her attention. Tifa’s head jerked up half expecting a crowd of monsters stomping into her new bedroom. Instead, a large dark skinned man stood at the doorway, his chest heaving up and down. Tifa blinked at Barret wondering what was wrong. Her mind flashed back to when she saw the broad shouldered man outside playing with his daughter.

{What happened?}

She watched confused as the man slowly did a careful survey of her room. Her confusion grew when Barret cautiously made his way towards her. It seemed he was trying his best not to make the slightest noise. Tifa frowned slightly at the utterly inane thought that formed in her head.

{Tiptoeing across the floor is definitely not very becoming for such a broad shouldered man, Barret...}

Slowly the man in question bent down towards her. By his facial expression, Tifa could tell something had happened. Impatience and concern chased each other across Barret’s face. Any idiot would know that those particular emotions were a negative sign. Tifa steeled herself for the bad news. The dark skinned man opened his mouth and whispered…

"Have you seen Marlene?"

Tifa blinked. It was not like the straightforward Barret to play tact, especially if concerning the safety of his only daughter. She could only draw a conclusion that he didn’t want her to know about it. If so, the situation was bad, really bad. The dark haired woman paused for a brief moment before asking, "Is there something wrong?"

What happen to Marlene? Did someone or something have taken her? Just 6 lousy months of peace then some idiot decided it was time to kidnap a harmless little girl?.....

{Oooh, wait till I get my hands on that creep....}

"I am playing hide and seek with the kid. You know where she is?"

{Oh...}

Barret looked at the object the young woman was holding. A frown appeared between his eyebrows.

"Ya still thinking bout that spiky headed jerk?" he asked.

Tifa looked down at her hands realizing she was still holding the picture. Quickly she dropped the photo back into the book as though she was scalded. A blush stained her cheeks.

The man just shook his head. "Ya know ya are not the only one"

Tifa’s head swung towards his direction, her brown eyes questioning. Barret caught her gaze and smiled.

"Ya are not the only one wondering if his damn ass is still intact. But hey, he is tough. That spiky headed jerk won’t crack that easily"

Tifa smiled at his crude way of showing his concern. The longhaired woman was just about to thank him when a figure appeared by the doorway. Elmyra smiled at the duo. She had noticeably aged after Aeris’s death but was contented in helping Barret look after Marlene. In her quiet voice, she told them that dinner was ready.

Outside, beyond the fluttering white lace curtains, a dark shadow could be seen for an instant before disappearing into the clouds.

--------------------------------------------------------

Far off in Wutai, a young teenager sat dutifully at a low table. Warm liquid sloshed into the delicate Chinese cup as the hot steam rose from the boiling kettle. The young girl at her youthful teenage years cautiously poured the steaming tea into the cup making sure that none stained the pure white tablecloth.

Yuffie Kisaragi then placed the kettle back onto the stove. The young girl lifted her cup up in the sophisticated way she was taught to. Before she took a sip of tea, she eyed the liquid suspiciously for a moment.

Shrugging, she took a huge gulp from the cup.

"Ugh!!! HOT!!!!"

The china hit the wooden table and shattered into pieces. To make things worse the green colored spots of tea "decorated" the whole tablecloth and dripped onto the floor in small puddles. Yuffie sighed in exasperation, glaring the broken cup on the table. Since she returned home, Godo her father, decided it was time Yuffie acted like a proper young lady. Her father had taught her how to drink like a lady and insistent she put it into practice.

Her eyes narrowed surveying the damage.

Unfortunately, he had also taught her how to clean up her own mess. Yuffie groaned, making her way to where her family kept the cleaning supplies. This is going to be a hell of a price to pay.

"Well, at least he didn’t change my entire wardrobe into a huge pile of lace and pink dresses" she murmured under her breath. Grumbling about the reasons why should she clean up the mess when there were such beings called servants in the house, the ninja girl tugged opened the cupboard.

Suddenly, the girl’s face lit up devilish pleasure. She stopped abruptly in her tracks and took a glance at her watch. Sure enough, the unmistakable sound of Highwind’s powerful engine was roaring in the air. The ninja girl quietly peeked from the crack of the door to make sure her father was nowhere around. A wicked grin slowly spread throughout her face.

With the speed of light that would have put Superman into shame, Yuffie bounded out of the house leaving the mess unattended and was in Highwind in a split second.

"YUFFIE, COME BACK HERE AND....."

The girl waved laughing gleefully at Godo as the airship speeded off to its next destination. Yuffie turned to see Cid Highwind standing near her. The Highwind captain was shaking his head at her antics. She was about to stick her tongue out at him when she remembered why she had to board the plane in the first place.

"So why are we going to North Crater for?"

Cid casually lit a fresh cigar. "There are rumors saying that a young man with silver long silver hair was found wanderin’ around North Crater"

Yuffie gave a sudden cry, taking a step back. His words swirled around her head. "Y-you don’t mean… Sephiroth is dead! We killed him......right?" she stammered, horror flashing all over her face. Her fingers automatically twitched for the absent Conformer at the sound of her enemy's name.

"Relax kid, when I said rumor I meant it. In my opinion there are some really sick people who get their kicks by spreading stuff of the kind." Cid drawled, leisurely taking a drag out of his cigar. "But Red 13 ask me to check it out, just in case"

The ninja girl frowned. "Red is not the paranoid kind of person. He wouldn’t ask you to check it out if it wasn’t serious"

Cid shrugged. "Old reddie must have thought something was up. Oh well, I rather make sure that Sephiroth freak stays dead than have my freaking conscience keeping me awake at night"

Yuffie shook her head. It was most probably not Cid’s conscience but rather over active imagination. She smirked inwardly.

At the same time Cid Highwind eyed the cheerful girl who was still actually standing on the deck. It was rather an unusual sight to see Yuffie standing about a few hundred feet in the air without her puking her guts out. He was just about to say something regarding the subject when the ninja girl peeked over the rails pointing at a faraway object.

"Hey, what’s that thing…" her sentence trailed off when her eyes looked down. The movement had proved to be a mistake when Yuffie’s face turned slightly green. The teen rushed off rather hastily with both hands covering her mouth.

A wide grin spread itself on the Cid’s face as Yuffie fled to the safety of the cargo room.

"Don’t puke all over the floor, Yuffi-....hmm?"

A distant sound of wings flapping made him turn around. It sounded as though it came from the direction Yuffie pointed at. More precisely it seemed to be coming from Niblehiem. The blonde captain squinted into the horizon but saw only the dark skies that indicated bad weather.

The Highwind captain shrugged and walked off to the main room. Highwind sliced through the skies, avoiding the black clouds. There was nothing extraordinary, only a case of normal everyday rain.

{Just your imagination, old boy}

Just as he passed the cargo area, Cid heard the familiar sounds of someone puking. He grinned; some things never change.

-------------------------------------------------

After a few hours of flight, a sick looking Yuffie stumbled on the snowy grounds of North Crater. The ninja girl clung onto a nearby rock as though she was going to stay on that particular solid base forever. Cid Highwind climbed carefully but swiftly down from Highwind. He grinned at her.

"You planing to latch onto that rock for the rest of the day?" He gave a mock of motherly despair "I know babies that can sit in a plane without getting motion sickness"

"Hell it with, Cid" Yuffie shot back, immediately becoming defensive. "It’s not my fault I get sick"

The man snorted in reply. No doubt he believed that there was no such thing as motion sickness.

"Go scout the area for any suspicious signs" Cid said before turning his back onto her.

Yuffie watched him as the Highwind captain made his way up the steep walls of the Crater towards the huge gaping hole in the ground. She held her breath while the blonde head disappeared over the walls.

Once he was out of sight, she muttered a few not very pleasant words describing the Highwind captain.

The atmosphere was stifling. Silence was overwhelming. If she dared, Yuffie wanted to scream just to defy the unusual quiet. In other words she hated the idea of coming down to North Crater. Yuffie shivered and rubbed her hands together. A cotton shirt and a pair of shorts made from denim did not do much to keep her warm even though the air surrounding the Crater was warmer than the whole North Continent itself.

{Should have wore something more warm...}

She tapped her feet on the moist ground debating whether or not she should follow instructions. Yuffie was not afraid of checking the Crater out. She just didn’t like the idea that was all. The lack of living creatures around that area was uncanny. Even grass didn’t grow around the Crater. Nothing except the barren land all around her. It gave her the creeps.

Scouting around the edges of the Crater, she peered into the darkness trying to make out Cid’s position. Her eyes managed to make out the outlines of a few nearby rocks but everything else was engulfed in the shadows. The pale greenish mako glow, Yuffie recalled six months ago, was now absent. She often wondered if the hole still led to the core of the planet where Sephiroth was defeated.

Seeing there was nothing interesting she moved away from the Crater.

{Might as well do what he says}

Half-sliding down the rocky surface, the ninja girl managed to anchor herself onto a small ledge. Snow sprayed down towards the valley below as she halted. Yuffie gazed at the gorgeous view below her. White snow dominated the entire area while edges of hard stones peeked out from their pale camouflage.

Yuffie could hear Highwind several hundred feet above her since now the sound was not muffled by the wind. The noise was rather loud comparing with the silence surrounding the Crater. She looked around, straining her eyes for anything unusual. Her effort was not rewarded. All she could see was snow, snow and more snow. There was not a single human being in sight.

{Who in their right mind would want to come here anyway?}

The villagers from Icicle village obviously stayed clear from the Crater. To them this place was a symbol of ill fortune, the grounds of evil, where death once gazed. Not even a daredevil who had a death wish would venture this far. After the incident, many people knew about this place but did not come to sightsee.

Yuffie smothered a grin.

North Crater was definitely not a popular tourist attraction spot.

She concluded the rumors Cid told her about weren’t true. If Sephiroth were still alive, he would have made definitely sure they knew about his presence. Yuffie could bet that if the man were alive he would have burnt down a couple more towns for some amusement. And more or less make life a living hell for the whole group especially Cloud. After wreaking his revenge, the insane man most likely will be off on his ‘merry way’ to destroy the planet once again.

Yuffie smirked at the thought and thanked the gods that particular man was already six feet under. She was quite certain that her guess was almost correct.

{More or less anyway}

Shuffling through the snow, Yuffie grumbled within a selected choice about what she thought about inane behavior. Which led to the ‘inane’ behavior her father, Godo, was displaying at home. If there were possibly a worse thing than suffering from motion sickness in Highwind, it would have to be to endure a delicately feminine tea party with Godo’s countless concubines. The ladies that spent their lives, gossiping away while trying to retain her father’s attention.

Yuffie shuddered at the thought.

{What the hell do dad ever sees in those women?}

Her feet latched on a loose stone under the snow. Yuffie’s eyes widen as she realized that her body was falling forward. Instinctively she tried to stop the motion but it was a second to late. With a thump, she was on the soft but cold snow. The ninja girl grimaced in distaste. Getting wet was one thing, getting wet AND cold was another thing.

Having a face full of snow PLUS getting wet and cold was altogether listed under a completely different category.

"Whoa, Yuffie! What the hell are you doin’? Taking a damn nap? In this god forsaken place?"

Yuffie’s head snapped up on reflex to see the distant figure of the Highwind captain. Cid was heading her way. She could imagine the grin on his face while he poked fun about her clumsiness.

Quickly, the ninja girl leveled herself so that she could leap back onto her feet. An odd metallic shine on the white snow caught her attention.

{...?}

Just an inch from her nose was the very thing that she dreamt of in her nightmares. The terror it managed to weave into her near fearless heart. It was the symbol of its owner. The very signature of death and destruction it had caused. She froze, just staring at the weapon. Incoherent sentences rippled through her mind.

The ninja girl inanely wondered how the deadly blade that took so many lives could look so beautiful in the pure white snow.

"Yuffie, what the hell--!"

Cid’s almost immediate reaction towards the object ensured her that it was no dream. The sinking feeling in her stomach made itself known. This time, Yuffie was sure it was not caused by a motion sickness. Cid Highwind stood speechless for a brief moment, his eyes were wide in disbelieve. His cigar tumbled from his lips.

"Oh shit! What the--how the hell--whoa!--SHIT! Sephiroth’s masamune?!"

---------------------------------------------------

Through the tall glass windows of his office, Reeve could see the final stage Neo-Midgar was going through. The structure of the new town fairly resembled the old Midgar but the people did not live in the slums like before. A more open concept was adapted so as to let in the fresh air and the clear view of the sky. Throughout the changes, the Shinra headquarters was still located in the middle of the whole town. The fifteen floors gave the once pompous cooperation a much more humble appearance.

The people from the slums migrated to Neo-Midgar since there was no where else to go. Midgar was evidently unrepairable after the meteor had crashed into it. Many had flocked to Kalm but due to the lack of space, they reluctantly moved to Neo-Midgar.

Reeve watched the daily routine the people of Neo-Midgar took as they went about with their lives. Shinra now took a more positive attitude. All the response he had received from the people was very good. It was a far cry from what Shinra had achieved by dominating the people’s fear years ago. The population was happily contented with their new homes, and if he dared say, with the new Shinra.

It was all he could do to make up for what Shinra had been done under Rufus’s and his father’s control. And if that was all he could do, Reeve made sure he did the very best he was capable of doing. Reeve sighed turning away from the windows.

Right now he had more pressing issues to attend to.

The head of Shinra cooperation walked back to his desk. Wearily, he looked at the pile of important papers sitting on his desk demanding attention. After the terror of the meteor placed in the hearts of the people had subsided, an election was held to nominate the next head for the Shinra since Rufus was dead.

Throughout the years, generals and other highly ranked officers from Junon had constantly turned to Reeve for advice. Rufus had neglected showing interest in the wellbeing of his troopers while blinded by his own fantasy of finding the promise land. He callously left the troopers to their own devices then demanding their services whenever he pleased.

His actions only served to heighten their hatred. Reeve being the head of security, tried to be the peacemaker in between. He had helped the generals with whatever problems they encountered and in return their respect and loyalty swayed to his direction.

Most of them had long since considered Reeve as their president so it only took a matter of hours and he was installed as the president of Shinra cooperation. It was a pleasant surprise but the amount of work he had to do in order to rebuild Midgar or rather Neo-Midgar was alarming. Almost everything concerning Neo-Midgar required his immediate attention.

Reeve had plenty of things to keep him occupied. He turned his attention back towards one of the current problems he was facing.

{Power....}

The people needed a constant power resource to fulfill their daily needs but the mako reactors were all shut down. Reeve made it clear that there would not be anymore mako usage knowing that it could cause further harm to the planet.

The only thing that could replace mako energy was coal; which was nowhere near sufficient. Reeve stifled a small sigh.

Among other problems building Neo-Midgar, the SOLDIER had to be dropped since mako was now banned from being used. Former SOLDIERs were placed on duty to guard Neo-Midgar from monsters, if any.

They sat around with normal troopers to assist Reeve in any security problems.

{.....you mean they sit around and do nothing}

He ran his fingers through his hair wearily. Other than that all materia were to be collected from materia shops from the Four Corners of the earth and were ‘returned to the planet’. Only Cloud and company were allowed to keep some of their materia.

And since materia was not allowed, other minor problems worked their way to his attention. Reeve didn’t like saying this but some problems seemed unsolvable. He pushed the thought out of his mind and settled down into his chair, preparing himself for the tedious task in looking through some documents.

Before he could even read the first few words on the white sheet his PHS rang loudly.

The head of Shinra cooperation heaved one last sigh accompanied with a curse. Reeve threw the paper impatiently back onto the pile in front of him and snatched up the PHS.

{To hell with the work.}

"Yes? Reeve here. Red 13? What’s up in Cosmo Canyon?"

His eyes wandered to the silent mog sitting at the edge of the room. During the six months of peace Cait Sith had creased to exist. The mog was hardly in motion since Reeve was so busy, burdened with the responsibilities his new job demanded. He doodled on a piece of blank paper for a moment while listening to Red 13. Upon one sentence the dark eyes widen and the pen dropped onto the table.

Reeve clutched the PHS tightly. "What do you mean the increase rate of monsters in Nibelhiem?"

His brain whirred trying to digest the information.

{It was not possible.}

Right after they killed Sephiroth, the group wandered around the world getting rid of pesky monsters that bothered the community.

In a few weeks, only the harmless ones, which pose no threat to the human species, were left alone. Reeve was fully aware that they could mutate if injected with mako but since the reactors were shut down that particular threat was not a possibility. Monsters, being monsters, definitely were not equipped with the knowledge on how to operate the complex machines. Like Barret’s favorite saying ‘Damn creatures with no damn brains’.

{.....but such a big increase rate of monsters in just six lousy months?}

The head of Shinra thought sourly, scribbling a few commands for his troopers. Maybe instead of having them sitting around and doing nothing, he could arrange something to keep them occupied.

"Huh? Vincent?" Reeve stopped writing to concentrate on what Red was saying. According to the beast, Vincent was down with some critical injuries during a fight. Reeve felt rather astonished.

{What kind of monster could actually stand up to Vincent?}

He quickly jotted down the details so he could inform his troopers. It was always good to be prepared; you never know what was going to happen next.

A frown graced his forehead as he swiftly prepared his latest order for his troops. He wasn’t about to send a couple of hundred soldiers into a no win situation. Instead he placed a firm command that all troopers were to protect the villagers and ensure that no beast that could be considered to be a threat were allowed to entered the town.

Reeve nodded to himself when he heard Vincent was now in Cosmo Canyon under Red’s care.

The frown faded when he heard the mysterious man was recovering with astonishing speed. Reeve although glad his friend was not seriously wounded gave the PHS a dark smile.

{Guess Hojo did some good after all}

After saying goodbye to Red, Reeve was just about to pick up what he left off earlier when he once again glanced at the silent mog. It sat near the corner of the large room. Its presence was curiously soothing. Reeve’s gaze moved up to the small cat sitting on top on the mog.

The cute little cat was wearing a gold colored crown. It reminded him of something. If the numbers of the monsters grew with such rapidity like it had during the last six months; he was going to need some reinforcements. Somebody with the experience to handle these kind of problems, a person who knew what to do in situations like this.

Thoughtfully he picked up the PHS again. On the gadget, there was a list of communication numbers that he once knew like the back of his hand. Reeve stared hesitatingly at them for a moment. Fingers graced at the numbers he thought he had forgotten. They moved over the buttons confidently even though his mind could not remember which number followed after the other.

A familiar shrug accompanied with the same old grin fleeted through his mind. Blue fading into gold mist. He had used the PHS to call a person for advice and instructions long ago and now he found himself using it again. Now he needed the person's help.

This time Reeve dialed a number he had not dialed for a very long time.

The end of Part 1 of Chapter 1

NOTE TO ALL READERS

Please be noted that the story takes place 6 months after the game. There is also a YAOI content. So to all readers who do not approve to such pairing or dislike the idea, do not read anymore than chapter 4 or 5. The authors will not entertain any flames or complains concerning the yaoi pairing/pairings involved in the fanfic.

Thankyou