Case of Tifa

On the Way to a Smile
Case of Tifa
Written by Kazushige Nojima
Published in the FFVII:AC Prologue Book

Translated by Xcomp.

Tifa walked the last customer out of her store Seventh Heaven before returning inside to clean up in the galley. The room was dimly lit with minimal but adequate lighting. No one else was there besides Tifa. Just days ago work didn’t seem that long. She enjoyed working along side her family, forgetting all her worries but now, the water had gotten cold and she wasn’t getting anywhere with all the dirty tableware. Tifa tried turning on all the lights that illuminated the store in an effort to change the atmosphere. For a brief moment, the store litup but the unstable electricity supply didn’t keep it that way for long. The store was dimly lit again. A surge of uneasiness came over her. She wondered if she was all alone in the house. She couldn’t stand it as the thought crossed her mind, and called out a girl’s name.

“Marlene!”

Before long, soft footsteps could be heard coming from the children’s room, deep inside the store and Marlene appeared.

“Ssssh,” she frowned, putting a finger to her lips. Tifa apologized but was relieved.

“Denzel finally fell asleep.”

“Was he in pain?”

“Yeah.”

“You could have gave me a shout.”

“Denzel didn’t let me.”

“I see…”

Tifa blamed herself for letting the children worry about her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmmm… What do you mean?” Tifa answered meaninglessly, trying to hide her feelings. Marlene looked around the store where only Tifa stood.

“Did you feel lonely?” The little girl saw through everything. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thanks. You should sleep soon too.”

“I was just about to sleep!”

“Sorry.”

She’s my daughter. That’s how I introduced her to people. Her parents died not too long ago and she was brought up by her father’s closest friend, Barret.

Tifa learned a lot about Marlene ever since she met Barret and travelled around with him. It was only natural that Barret entrusted Marlene to Tifa when he decided to go on a journey to settle his past.

Tifa stopped washing and followed Marlene inside. In the children’s room were two beds lined up next to one another. There, Denzel laid sound asleep. The Geostigma scar on the eight year old’s forehead was a painful sight. Nothing could be done to ease the symptoms as the boy suffered and his conditions wasn’t improving at all either. Denzel grimaced a little as Tifa wiped away the pus from the scar on his soaked forehead, but he continued to sleep. Marlene who had watched over Denzel, called out Tifa’s name after she tucked herself up in her own bed.

“You still feel lonely even with us here, don’t you?”

“…I’m sorry,” Tifa answered honestly.

“It’s OK. We’re the same.”

“I see.”

“I wonder where Cloud is.”

Tifa hung her head, unable to answer. Cloud was in Midgar somewhere. At first, she imagined how the worse could have happened. Maybe he had an accident when he went out on one of his jobs or he was attacked by some monster.

She soon found out that he was still out there doing jobs. There were people who had seen him. He just left the house that’s all. Tifa had tried to convince the children that there were no problems but she lost her composure. Before long, the children realized something had happened.

“Why did he leave?”

I didn’t know. Maybe all kinds of problems had cropped up between us.

But Tifa remembered that smile on Cloud’s face when she last saw him. It had that kindness that made her think everything was all right.

I wonder if I was mistaken.

* * *

One fated day, Meteor came shooting down from outer space. Flowing out from the seams of the Planet, the Lifestream merged together and destroyed it. Tifa had watched the scene together with her companions from the sky.

I wished everything was just washed away. Wash away my past. Our past. Maybe I too felt the inevitable terror that was going to come with the relief brought by the end of the battle.

I wondered if I could continue living the way I was.

When someone was faced with the same question, then she would tell them that they should live on no matter what happened. But now that it was about her, she was unsure.
Thanks to Shinra Inc’s development of Mako energy, the world was prospering. Light overflowed the ground’s surface but at the same time, something much darker was happening. The anti-Shinra group, “Avalanche” took action to let the world know what that darkness was.

Mako energy was leading Planet to its destruction. Despite Avalanche’s underground activity, little was achieved and the world remained unchanged. Once you understood the benefits of Mako, it was hard to turn your back against it. In an effort to change the situation, Avalanche chose to take more extreme action. In the Mako city of Midgar where large amounts of Mako energy was consumed and lots of people lived, they blew up one of the reactors.

Due to a miscalculation in the bomb they made, the area that got destroyed was greater than they had planned. The surrounding areas of the Mako reactor was also destroyed. In response to the incident, Shinra Inc was on the move to eliminate Avalanche. An entire sector of Midgar where Avalanche’s hideout resided and many residents were was completely destroyed. It was a brutal act by Shinra in order to destroy the small rebel group Avalanche. In the end after the incident, Avalanche became the reason why countless innocent lives were lost.

That Avalanche was the group Tifa joined.

She had thought that sacrifices were more or less inevitable for their great goal. They were always ready to throw their lives away too. But after the catastrophe, Tifa and the others lost their stance on their original purpose. Amidst their struggle with Shinra Inc, they soon found themselves fighting the powerful Sephiroth. Tifa along with her childhood friend Cloud, the other remaining survivor of Avalanche Barret, Aeris who they met during all the chaos and Red XIII, they set out on their journey. After going through some more events, Cid, Cait Sith, Yuffie and Vincent also became her companions.

It seemed a new friendship was blooming but as if there was a price to pay, Aerith’s life was taken away.

Even so, the journey was not over. Looking back at the course of their journey, Tifa could feel that their fight, whether it was a win or loss, was coming to a close.

It all started when I was still a young girl. There was some trouble in the Mako reactor that was built near my hometown of Nibelheim that threatened our safety.

Sephiroth was dispatched by Shinra to resolve the problem but he killed my father. I couldn’t bear the hatred I had for Shinra and Sephiroth. Then I joined Avalanche. Yes. That was the start of the resentment I had for them inside me. The slogans Avalanche used about how they were anti-Shinra and anti-Mako was just what I I needed to hide my true motive. But too many lives were sacrificed while we tried to save the Planet. If all that was just for my personal revenge then…
The sin held a role deep in Tifa’s heart.

She wondered if she could live on with those feelings. Tifa was afraid of her future. She looked down from the sky towards the ground.

Meanwhile, Cloud was sitting next to her gazing at the same scenery but was smiling peacefully. It was a smile that she hadn’t seen before during their journey. Cloud noticed her gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Cloud, you’re smiling.”

“I am?”

“Yeah.”

“Everything starts now. A new…” Cloud looked for the right words, “A new life.”

“I’m going to live. I think that’s the only way I can be forgiven. We’ve been through… all sorts of things.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“But when I think about how many times I’ve thought about starting a new life, it’s funny.”

“Why?”

“I’ve always failed to do it.”

“That’s not funny.”

“…I think it will be all right this time.”

Cloud became very quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Because you’re always with me.”

“I haven’t always been with you.”

“That’s how it will be starting from tomorrow,” Cloud replied smiling again.

* * *

Tifa went to see Aerith together with her companions. Aerith who was now at the bottom of the Forgotten City’s spring. The world she wanted to save in exchange for her life would surely be all right now. That’s what they were told. Tifa heard a voice asking if she was all right. She didn’t know if it was Aerith’s voice or her own. She couldn’t help it but started crying. Right after Sephiroth took Aerith’s life, Tifa felt no grief towards her death. There was sadness but that sadness was made into more anger and hatred she had towards the enemy. At least now she understood the sadness and pain she felt, tearing her heart apart as she visited the place. Being a member of Avalanche and being with a large group of people gave her these feelings. The tears wouldn’t stop.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

She felt Cloud’s hand on her shoulder. He held onto her firmly so that she wouldn’t go anywhere. For now, she was just going to let herself cry as much as she felt like. Then she was going to leave the rest to him.

Alone, she just didn’t know what she could do.

* * *

Tifa and the companions that she was with for the whole trial of the journey seperated just as easily as they joined. Vincent left just like one of those passengers that would sit next to you on a train. Yuffie protested. It just wasn’t right for them to split up this way after all they’ve been through as friends. Barret was the one who said to her that they could see each other whenever they wanted if they all lived. Or maybe it was Cid. After promising to reunite one day, Tifa, Cloud and Barret seperated from the others leaving for Corel Town. It was Barret’s hometown. The tragedies that occurred there because of Mako was what started everything for him. Standing silently for a moment, he told the others not to follow him. He too had to go on living bearing sins.

They also went to Nilbeim, Tifa and Cloud’s hometown. They didn’t feel any nostalgia. They were reminded clearly of the incident that took place in the town.

“I shouldn’t have come, ” said Cloud. “It draws me back to the past.”

Cloud’s words spokeout for the way Tifa felt too.

* * *

They then went to Kalm. There waiting for them was Aerith’s foster mother Elymyra and the girl that was left in her care, Marlene. Two of Elmyra’s relatives had a house in Kalm and that was where they stayed. Barret and Marlene were happy to see each other again. Cloud told Elmyra what had happened to Aerith.

There were no signs how they accepted what had happened but Tifa, Cloud and Barret apologized for not being able to save Aerith.

“You all done what you could. There’s no need for you to apologize,” said Elmyra.

Tifa and the others couldn’t say anything in reply.

Did we really do all we could?
There were many people who arrived in Kalm to take refuge. The normal houses became emergency shelters. The residents of Kalm didn’t charge them even though they could. Even the inn provided rooms for the people in need for free. It was like everyone was cooperating to rebuild the world.

“Come on, lets go home,” said Cloud.

“Where to?” Barret asked.

“Our suspended reality.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Our normal lives.”

“And where do we have something like that?”

“We’ll find one.” Cloud looked at Tifa and said, “Right?”

“Yeah!” cried the cheerful Marlene. Tifa too nodded but just like Barret, she wondered where they had a normal life.

The four of them arrived back at Midgar. The city had recovered from all the shock and chaos that took place right after Meteor was destroyed. People were on the move again looking towards their future… No, their present lives for the time being. Seeing this made Tifa blame herself again. When she looked at Midgar from the sky she wished everything was just got washed away. She didn’t know there were still so many lives here. Tifa couldn’t forgive herself for being so selfish. She told Cloud and Barret what she was thinking when they were on the airship. Barret and Cloud understood how she felt and agreed. But they reminded her that no matter where they were or what they were doing, they wouldn’t be able to get away from the sins in their consciousness.

“Since that’s the case, we’ll live on. We’ll live on until we pay back for our sins. It’s the only way,” said Barret.
When Tifa and Cloud were alone, Cloud said to her, “It’s not like you to be troubled by your thoughts.”

“It’s… Just the way I am.”

“No. You’re much more cheerful and strong. If you’ve forgotten the way you were then, I’ll be there to remind you.”

“You really will?”

“Probably,” Cloud said blushing.

* * *

The first thing they done was gather information in and around Midgar. There was a lack of materials but importantly, there wasn’t any information being passed around about where to get things. The three of them split up and went around sharing the information they gathered with those who were in need, about where they could get the things they wanted. They helped the people that couldn’t move on their own. At night, they slept under a plate in Midgar where rumours had it that it could fall anytime.

One day, Barret came back with a wine jar, a heater and various fruits. They were given to him as thanks for helping someone dismantle a house.

“Just watch,” Barret told them as he skillfully started working on some cooking that they’ve never seen before. The wine had been left to stand for two weeks since then. They found out that it was some special wine made in the town of Corel. Tifa and Cloud sipped their wine slowly. Barret literally drowned himself in wine. He looked like he was enjoying it as he talked about his memories of the peaceful times. He told them how he once drank too much and fell into a well. He also mentioned how he had forgotten why he had proposed to his now deceased wife, to marry him while he was drunk. It’s been a long time since Tifa and Cloud burst out laughing.

The next day, Barret said in a serious tone, “How about we started a business and sold this wine?”

“We?” Cloud asked, surprised.

“Of course, you idiot! We can’t draw customers! Tifa will have to do it.”

“Me?”

“You’re good at it.”

Not long ago, Avalanche’s hideout was at a bar named Seventh Heaven. It was what funded the members lives and activities. Tifa was the barmaid there or more accurately, the bar’s manager. Barret continued.

“From my point of view, the people of Midgar can be split into two types. Those dilly dallying around who still can’t accept what’s happened to the city and those who are working to live on. I understand how both types of people are feeling. Everyone is facing their problems but they’re just coping with it in different ways right? The solution to everyone’s problem is wine.”

“Why is that?”

“I dunno. But when we were half drunk yesterday, we laughed. We forgot all sorts of things right? That’s the moment we’re after.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Times like that are important ain’t they? Hey Tifa, what do you think?”

Tifa couldn’t answer right away. She understood what Barret was saying but, opening up a bar felt like going back to the times of Avalanche again. Cloud spoke up.

“Tifa, lets give it a go. If it gets too tough, we can just stop.”

“It won’t be tough. If Tifa doesn’t work she’ll end up thinkin’ about all sorts of things. Then she’ll end up not being able to do anything.”

That might have been true.

The three of them made preparations. They decided to build their new business in the new city of Edge that was north of Midgar.

All the people that Barret and Cloud had helped before gathered together. They all transported all the materials that would be used to build parts of the store such as the walls and pillars.

Barret shouted out his orders while Cloud went around correcting them in a low voice. Tifa on the other hand learned how to make Corel’s wine and improved it so that it was better to drink. She also thought of the food she could put on their menu using the steady supply of ingredients they could use. Marlene was like a mascot to the people who helped build their bar. It was as if she was emphasizing at how she was going to be the new barmaid. It was hardwork solving problems that arised everyday but it was some fulfilment for them. Sometimes Tifa would find herself feeling guilty for her sins when she smiled but, she would always get interrupted as someone calls her over to ask about something.

A few days more and they might be able to open the new bar, Cloud said. Barret asked what they were going to do about the name. There were a few suggestions but Cloud’s ones were all meaningless and boring while Barret’s ones made them think of monsters. In the end, it was Tifa who had to decide. The two men promised her that they wouldn’t complain no matter what the name was. But it was nearing opening day and Tifa didn’t have the time to think about it with all the work she had to do. One day, Marlene came and asked them what they were going to do about the bar’s name.

“We’re still thinking about it.”

“I wish it was Seventh Heaven,” said Marlene. It was a name Tifa wanted to avoid.

Just having the past in me was enough. There was no need to go to the trouble of making a name that would remind me of it.

“Why?”

“Because it was fun. If we make it Seventh Heaven we’ll have fun again.”

We had forgotten how adults had ambitions but, Marlene had nothing to do with them. To her, Seventh Heaven was a happy home where Barret, Tifa and her friends were.

“Hmmmm, Seventh Heaven…”

I couldn’t erase my past. I could only compromise and live on.

Tifa decided she was ready.

The first day of Seventh Heaven’s opening was a great success. The Corel wine was something that you could make yourself when you felt like it so the price was nothing special. Because of the limited ingredients they had, they couldn’t make any special dishes. Even so, people seeked places like this. A place where they could be with friends while drinking. A place where you could get over the sadness of reality or maybe forget about reality and think about the future. People who didn’t have money were allowed to trade items to get a drink. A variety of juice were prepared too so that children could also go inside. They only served the ones that Marlene tried and liked. She was someone who couldn’t be missing out on anything. Marlene was the waitress who served until not too late into the night. Those who drank too much were ordered to go home without any hesitation.

Barret was sipping his wine in a corner. Maybe he was planning to be the bouncer. Cloud’s job was to obtain the ingredients they needed for their food and wine. He didn’t know most of the names of the fruit and vegetables. At first, Tifa was surprised but when she thought about the life that Cloud had, it couldn’t be helped. It was funny when she thought about how Cloud’s new life was going to start by remembering the names of vegetables. No, I musn’t laugh, Tifa thought to herself.

Cloud wasn’t good at socializing. He wasn’t good at communicating but yet, he would go negotiate somewhere to obtain the ingredients they needed. The ingredients had a value greater than what they were worth. Cloud was moving on too.

After the first week of opening, Barret told the others that he was going to leave on a journey seeing how well the business was going now. He was going to leave Marlene behind.

“I wanna go on a journey to settle my past.”

Cloud nodded as if he understood.

“Settle your past…? But I want to do that too.”

“You guys can do that here. Don’t just take. Try proving that you can give too.”
Marlene who had always slept with Tifa, slept with her foster father Barret the night before he left. Their conversations could be heard late into the night.

Early next morning, Barret setoff.

Behind him Marlene shouted, “Send me some letters! Phone too!”

Barret raised his artificial right arm up that had a machine gun attached to it. He kept walking without looking back. It was the back of a figure who had no other way to live than to fight.

I wonder just what kind of life he will find. I prayed that he would be able to stay far away from war. Not just take. I prayed he would be able to prove that he could give too.

“Make sure you be a “nice” kid!”

Cloud and Tifa glanced at each other, as they heard Barret’s words. Be a “nice” kid?

“I’ll take care of Cloud and Tifa!”

Barret turned round and shouted, “Take care!” His voice was a little shaky.

“Keep the family together and keep at it!”

* * *

Friends were a necessity to me so that I could live on without being supressed by the sins in my consciousness. Even if they were fellow companions that had the same wounds. Even if they were fellow companions who were burdened with the same sins. We couldn’t live without comforting each other and encouraging each other.

Maybe you could call that family. We just had to keep the family together and do our best.

Tifa thought she could get over anything being with friends that she could call family.

* * *

It’s been several months since they opened the bar. There was a call from Cloud who went to collect their supply of ingredients. He wanted to discuss the privilege of how much one person could eat and drink for free during their lifetime at Seventh Heaven. Tifa knew what he wanted to say without listening to his story. She was sure there was something Cloud wanted to exchange that odd privilege for no matter what.

It was night and Cloud came back on a bike. It was a model that they had never seen before. Since then, he had been adjusting it whenever he could spare the time in between his job. He brought an engineer that he knew from somewhere to discuss about modifying his bike. It seemed a few other people came to help Cloud complete the modifications. Marlene and her young neighbourhood friends also watched. The scene reassured Tifa that they were really becoming a family in the world.

There were many times when Cloud had to leave Midgar for their supplies. The destination was mainly Kalm. He had to rent a bike or a truck or sometimes a chocobo but now, he had his own bike. Occasionally it seemed he would travel very far and manage to get some rare goods.

One night, there was a call for Cloud. After talking on the phone for a while, Cloud said he had to go out for a while.

“Where are you going?”

“How should I tell you this…”

Cloud told Tifa how there had many times when he was asked to deliver something while returning with supplies. The caller was one of the store owners who shared some of his vegetables with them. It seemed there was something that he wanted Cloud to deliver before the night was over by all means. Cloud gazed at Tifa like a kid who just had his secrets revealed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?

“Well… I’m sorry I kept quiet about it.”

“About what?”

“Doing what I wanted.”

Tifa burst out laughing. Cloud went on about how he got paid a little for delivering items. He felt guilty spending it all on the modifications for his bike. Tifa thought he was just like a kid. It may have been a little sad that Cloud had found another world that she didn’t know about but, the fact that his world was expanding was a welcoming thought. Yes, it was similar to the feelings a mother would have. Tifa walked Cloud outside and was enjoying the new feeling that was blooming in her.

* * *

Tifa was able to live along with the sins in her conciousness now but, she hadn’t forgotten about them. Someday, the day may come when she will be punished. Until that day comes, Tifa was going to look ahead and live on. She was going to live not just taking but, proving that she herself can give too.

* * *

Tifa seriously encouraged Cloud to run a delivery service. They could just take requests at the bar. As for dealing with calls, Marlene or herself could do it. Cloud hesitated but, after thinking about it for one night, he accepted the suggestion. He was just being hesitant again after all.

And so, that was the beginning of the Strife Delivery Service. Midgar was the centre of their business but they also delivered all over the world. Only to the areas that Cloud could reach by bike, though. Cloud smiled at how he was like a big advertisement. His job was also a big success. It was a time when sending things weren’t so easy for people who wanted to. Monsters were still lurking around and there were roads that were built in areas that could breakup due to the Lifestream bursting out. This job of travelling around the world wasn’t something that anyone could do. It was a job he had been wanting. Tifa thought it was wonderful how Cloud, who wasn’t very sociable, was doing a job that connected people through his delivery service.
After Cloud started his delivery service, their “family” life was affected greatly. It wasn’t too good. Cloud was usually not at home apart from mornings and late night. And of course, that meant there were less chances for the three of them to have conversations together. Tifa tried closing the bar for a day every week but it didn’t stop Cloud from doing his job. Cloud couldn’t turn down requests. Although Tifa wanted everyone to be able to take some time off together now and then, she decided that it was too selfish of her. During that time, it was Marlene who noticed a change in Cloud. She told Tifa how Cloud would sometimes look up at the sky and not pay attention to her.

Cloud never really approached Marlene to talk in the first place but, I’m sure he never ignored her before when she talked to him. I knew that Cloud had his own ways of getting along with Marlene. I thought about how there were people everywhere that weren’t good with children but had their own ways of coping with them.

I told her that Cloud was probably just tired but it bothered me. Marlene was a child who was sensitive about the changes in adults.

During their holiday, Tifa and Marlene were cleaning the room that was now Cloud’s office. There were many papers that laid scattered about unsorted. One of them caught Tifa’s eye.

Client Name – Elmyra Gainsborough
Delivery Item – Bouquet
Destination – The Forgotten City

Tifa put the paper away with the others as if nothing happened. But she was trembling severely. Transporting mail around the world meant Cloud was travelling around his past too. She knew that Cloud was in great pain because he couldn’t protect Aerith. Cloud was on the verge of overcoming it but now, going back to the place where he and Aerith got seperated meant that his sorrow and regret was going to tear his heart apart once again.

It was night and they had closed the bar. Cloud was drinking wine even though he rarely does. He drained his glass. Tifa hesitated before going over and filling his glass.

“Shall I join you?” There was something she wanted to talk to him about.

“I want to drink alone.”

Hearing that, Tifa lost control and said, “Then drink in your room.”
Barret had called a few times. Most of the time, he wouldn’t talk about himself but instead, asked more about how Marlene was doing. Then everytime he would end the call by having a little chat with Marlene. Marlene wondered if Tifa was listening or not before she told Barret in a sad voice, “Cloud and Tifa aren’t getting along very well.”

No matter what feelings Cloud and Tifa had between them, they couldn’t drag Marlene into it Tifa thought to herself.
Tifa forced herself to talk to Cloud. When Marlene was near, she would pick something positive, something that wouldn’t turn the conversation into a serious matter. Cloud was bewildered at the way Tifa changed but guessing at what she was trying to do, he went along with the mood and talked to her. Even Marlene joined in with their conversations.

I thought it went pretty well. But I couldn’t talk about what I really wanted to talk about. I didn’t know what to say.

One morning, Tifa shared a story she heard from a customer that seemed funny.

“That’s really something that can’t be done,” Cloud thought aloud.

“It can’t be done!” Marlene cried out.

All the adults were surprised and looked at Marlene.

“You’ve told us that story before! Cloud just gives the same answer everytime!”
It didn’t go well but we were together.We were family. We lived in the same house and we were lived by keeping the family together. Maybe there wasn’t much conversation or smiles. But we were family, Tifa thought to herself. No, it was what she made herself think.

After making certain that Cloud was asleep, she said to him.

“We’ll be all right, won’t we?”

Of course, there was no answer. Only the sound of Cloud sleeping could be heard. Tifa wondered if the fact that he was sleeping here meant that he was part of the family.

“Do you love me?”

Cloud woke up, a dubious look on his face.

“Hey, Cloud. Do you love Marlene?”

“Yeah. But sometimes I don’t know how to approach her.”

“Even though we’ve been together for sometime?”

“Maybe that just isn’t enough.”

“Even we aren’t enough for you?”

Cloud didn’t answer.

“Sorry for asking some strange things.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s my problem.”

Cloud closed his eyes.

“Lets work hard together.”

Cloud didn’t answer.
Not long after that, Cloud brought Denzel home with him. Denzel was already unconcious when he was brought into the bar. It was Geostigma. Cloud said the syndromes looked like they just started not long ago. As Tifa nursed Denzel, she thought of how there many children who were also infected with the same disease. There were many facilities setup for children who had lost their parents. Yet, why did Cloud bring Denzel here? Just when Tifa was going to ask him, Cloud muttered something.

“This kid came to my place.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…”

* * *

After Denzel recovered, she listened to Denzel’s story about everything that happened to him before he arrived here. Then she thought to herself that he was meant to come here. He was one of the victims when Sector Seven was destroyed.

Sector Seven was destroyed was because of us. That’s why I had to take responsibility and raise him. He didn’t go to Cloud’s place. He met Cloud so that he could come to my place.

Tifa discussed with Cloud and Marlene about how she wanted to welcome Denzel into their family. Cloud nodded silently but Marlene was full of joy.

At first, Denzel was persistent in helping them as thanks for taking care of him but, his heart began opening to them as he helped Cloud with his job and around the bar.

It was night and the bar was closed. While cleaning up in the galley, Tifa looked up towards the centre table. There sat the manager of Strife Delivery Service, Cloud and his two assistants, Marlene and Denzel. Denzel often suffered because of Geostigma but on the days when he didn’t have a fever or any pain, he would hang around with Cloud. Everyday, Cloud would spend half his day out. So once he was home, it was Denzel’s precious time to spend with his hero. Yes, Cloud was a hero to Denzel. Riding on his bike, saving Denzel as he fought with terrors of death when the symptoms of Geostigma erupted… It was everything that Denzel had been yearning for. Denzel wanted to know ask Cloud about everything. He would keep asking Tifa questions that she could answer until Cloud returned home. Once, Tifa half jokingly said to Denzel that she was the one cooking their meals everyday. Denzel also said in an grown up manner that he cleaned the house and the bar everyday too.

It was true and he done a very thorough job of cleaning. When he was asked if it was his passed away mother who taught him how to clean, he answered no. The following day, Tifa asked Cloud who Denzel’s cleaning teacher was. He had told Cloud about it. Tifa was a little hurt.

I was troubled at why Denzel told Cloud and didn’t tell me. One day I tried asking a customer that was about the same age as Denzel about it. His answer was that boys were just like that. So there really weren’t any problems. We were just a normal family.

The answer didn’t make her understand them more but, the words “normal family” relieved Tifa.

After the bar was closed, the usual three people sat around the table. It wouldn’t be a surprise if someone said it was a young father with his two children. If Tifa felt like it, she could go over to that table and be welcomed with smiles.

Cloud laid out a map on the table. He was making sure of the routes that he was going to take to do deliveries the next day. Denzel and Marlene was sorting out the papers. When there were any words that Marlene couldn’t read, she asked Denzel. Denzel would then teach Marlene like an older brother. When there were words that even Denzel couldn’t read, he would ask Cloud. Cloud had the habit of handing them a pen after telling them how to read them. He told them that if they couldn’t write the words then they wouldn’t be able to remember them either. The various names of places on the papers made the children curious and they asked Cloud what they were like. Cloud’s descriptions were simple. There are lots of people. There are very little people. There’s lots of monsters so it’s dangerous. Taking the north route is safer… They were descriptions that would make you ask, “is that all?” but the children seemed content. Soon, Tifa wanted to talk a little about the places too. When she added in more detail, Denzel would ask Cloud if it was true. It annoyed Tifa a little. But she also thought it was all right. That’s probabbly what normal families were like.

Maybe they became a real family after Denzel arrived. Cloud was clearly taking less jobs. At night, he would always make sure he had time to spend with the children. The silly little conversations he had with Tifa were also back.

* * *

“So the problem was resolved?”

“What problem?”

“Your problem.”

“Yeah…”

Cloud thought about it.

“It’s OK if you don’t want to tell me.”

“I can’t really explain it well…” Cloud warned before starting to talk.

“The problem isn’t resolved. Well, I don’t think it will be resolved for a long time to come. You can’t retrieve lives that have been lost.”

Tifa nodded silently.

“But maybe we can still save those lives that are endangered just now. Maybe even I can do it.”

“You mean Denzel?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, do you remember what you said when you brought Denzel here?”

“What did I say?”

“You said Denzel came to your place.”

“Well…” Cloud looked like a kid that about to be scolded as usual.

“Tell me. I’ll decide whether I’m angry or not after I listen.”

Cloud nodded and continued.

“Denzel had collapsed in front of the church where Aerith used to be. That’s why I thought Aerith lead him to “my place”".

Saying all that in one breathe, Cloud looked away.

“You went to the church.”

“I wasn’t planning to hide there.”

“You were hiding.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t go. But next time, I’ll go together with you.”

“I understand.”

“And you’re wrong, Cloud.”

Cloud looked dubiously at Tifa.

“Aerith didn’t bring Denzel to you.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

“Aerith brought that child to us, didn’t she?”

Cloud gazed at Tifa and finally smiled. It had that kindness that made her think everything was all right.

* * *

Days after having that conversation, Cloud left. Tifa wondered if the smile she saw was just an illusion. After kissing the sleeping children on the face, she went into Cloud’s office. Brushing away the dust on the family photo they took, she tried calling him. After several rings, the messaging service took over.

Case of Tifa, End.

Final Fantasy Story

Many Years Ago:

• The Cetra, a nomadic magical race which may or may not have originated on the Planet, settle after a long and arduous journey. Some Cetra (later known as Ancients) choose to continue their journey, whilst others settle down and eventually become humans. A few true Cetra still survive, however. [FF7]
• The Cetra create a tablet describing the existence of Chaos and Omega and their purpose. This tablet will be discovered by Dr. Grimoire Valentine and
  
  Dr. Lucrecia Crescent

  , providing the spark for their experiments. [DoC]

2000 Years B.G.:

• JENOVA, a malevolent creature, crash-lands on the planet and causes a huge rift, the Northern Crater. JENOVA infects the Cetra with a virus, turning them into monsters. Most of the remaining Cetra are slaughtered as the humans hide out in their new settlements, avoiding the terror. The Planet creates five Weapons to battle JENOVA, but they are never used. A small number of surviving Cetra succeed in containing her in the Northern Crater. The Planet begins to heal itself using its life energy. (It never fully heals.) [FF7]

Between 1999 – 41 B.G.:

• The Shinra Electric Company emerges as the leading energy provider in the world. They use Mako energy, which is drawn from the bowels of the earth. Mako is also known as Lifestream, a spirit force which is shared by the planet and everyone living on it. Condensed Mako, known as Materia, draws a high market for its magical properties. Eventually Shinra diversifies into military, political, urban development, scientific, astronomical, and communications departments and becomes known as the ‘Shinra Corporation’, or simply ‘Shinra’. [FF7]
• The existence of Shinra gives way to Midgar, the city constructed around the central power plant. Eight Mako Reactors are placed at the edge of the circular city to provide power to the two levels: the upper plate consists of the well-to-do society, and under the plate, where the slums are.
• Knowing the Mako can’t last forever, Shinra begins conducting a search for the rumored ‘Promised Land’, a land of supreme happiness and abundant Mako. Only the Ancients know of its location, and Shinra intends to build ‘Neo-Midgar’ there. [Conjecture: in DoC, Dr. Valentine mentions the ancient tablet may contain info regarding 'Promised Land', so we can assume they are already looking for it at this point.]
• The Turks are formed as an internal and hush-hush departement in Shinra; they carry out less desirable missions like kidnapping and assassinations. [FF7]

55 B.G.:

• Vincent Valentine is born. [FF7 - Remember that Hojo's experiments on Vincent allow him to live much longer (theoretically forever). He was killed when he was 27 and stays that age perpetually.]

40 B.G. ca.:

• The peaceful tribe living in Cosmo Canyon is attacked by the violent Gi tribe. Seto, a wolf-like creature, protects the Canyon by going through a secret passage, and succeeds in holding off the Gi tribe, but is pierced by their petrifying arrows and turns to stone in the end. The tribe, including Seto’s son, Nanaki, believes Seto turned tail and fled. Only Seto’s father-in-law, Bugenhagen, knows the truth. [FF7]

35 B.G.:

• Barret Wallace is born in Corel Village. [FF7]

32 B.G.:

• Cid Highwind is born. [FF7]

30 – 29 B.G.

• Professor Gast, Shinra’s leading scientist, heads a team including a young man named Hojo, a woman named Lucrecia into the Nibelheim Mountains. Gast excavates the body of JENOVA, whom he believes to be an Ancient, and sets up his research lab in the Shinra Mansion in the nearby town. [FF7]
• Grimoire Valentine, Vincent Valentine’s father, discovers an ancient Cetran tablet describing Omega and Chaos, a partnership capable of destroying the world. He believes it may have to do with the “Promised Land” and is given permission to study it. He also takes on an assistant – Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. Together, they discover a cavern, which they reason is where Chaos will eventually awake. They also find the Protomateria there. [DoC]
• During an experiment on a dark substance they they find there (later known as “G-substance”), it jumps out of the regeneration tube and attacks Dr. Valentine. He later dies of the wound and Lucrecia blames herself for it. [DoC]
• Vincent Valentine joins the Turks. [DoC]

29 B.G.:

• Vincent Valentine is assigned to protect Lucrecia Crescent while she is working with Dr. Hojo, a brilliant Shinra scientist. He does not know his father was working with Dr. Crescent before he died. [FF7 and DoC]
• Vincent falls for Lucrecia, but he also sees that she is in love with Hojo, and resigns himself to that fate. Lucrecia also chooses Hojo and his proposed experiment on her unborn child. She does so because she feels guilty about Vincent’s father. Vincent discovers this fact, and additional information about the experiment that killed him. The effects of this on their relationship are unknown, but there is strife. [FF7 and DoC]

28 B.G.:

• Lucrecia’s son is born and given the name Sephiroth. He is not told his true origins, however, instead being told that his mother, named JENOVA, died giving birth to him. [FF7]
• When Vincent discovers that Sephiroth is a result of Hojo having injected Lucrecia’s yet-unborn baby with JENOVA’s DNA, Vincent loses it and confronts Hojo. Hojo kills Vincent and conducts an operation on his body, reviving him and turning him into an unstable monster capable of mutating further when angered. [FF7 and DoC]
• However, Vincent’s body proves unstable, and Lucrecia takes it to perform further experiments on it. She injects Vincent with the Chaos gene; the process unleashes Chaos for a moment, but it is quickly subdued. She takes the Protomateria and embeds it in Vincent’s body, fully reviving him but leaving him with the effects of both Hojo’s experimentation (the ability to turn into monsters) and the Chaos gene. [DoC]
• A short period later, Lucrecia dies, though her induction of JENOVA cells seems to have some sort of after effect. Vincent remains ignorant of her fate. In disgrace, Vincent enters a coffin in the Shinra Mansion and falls into a deep sleep. [DoC and FF7. It is unknown if Lucrecia really dies or not, as she is found in the Waterfall Cave during FF7, and suspended in a crystal in the same location in DoC. Her status after this point is a mystery, but we are led to believe she is no longer living as she once was.]

25-22 B.G.:

• Dr. Gast also flees from Hojo and runs to Icicle Inn in the north, where he discovers a Cetra named Ifalna, who he believes is the last of her race. Hoping to get information on the Promised Land, he videotapes his interviews with her, but eventually falls in love. [FF7]

25-22 B.G.:

• Dr. Gast and Ifalna have a child together. They name their daughter Aeris. [FF7]
• Hojo storms the inn, discovers the Ancients and attempts to take them. Dr. Gast is killed trying to protect them, and Ifalna and Aeris are captured by Hojo. [FF7]

21 B.G.:

• Cloud Strife is born in Nibelheim. [FF7]

20 B.G.:

• Tifa Lockheart is born in Nibelheim. [FF7]

16 B.G.:

• Yuffie Kisaragi is born in Wutai to King Godo. [FF7]

15 B.G. ca.:

• Shinra’s military wing proceeds to declare war on Wutai, an Oriental village. Shinra is eventually victorious, and its leader Godo humbled. Eventually Wutai loses its status as an honorable and polite nation and becomes a tourist attraction. [FF7]
• Ifalna somehow manages to take Aeris and escape Hojo. Gravely injured, she makes it to the Midgar Sector 7 Train Station before collapsing. A woman named Elmyra discovers them, and promises they dying mother to take care of Aeris, as her own husband had died during the Midgar-Wutai war. Ifalna gives Aeris the White Materia, a legendary stone which has the power to call Holy. Aeris grows up thinking the Materia doesn’t do anything at all. [FF7]
• Over time, Aeris begins to show a strange talent. She is able to sense the death of Elmyra’s husband out at war with Wutai before Elmyra actually gets word of it. She also seems to be able to ‘talk to the Planet’. [FF7]
• Cid Highwind, creator of the Tiny Bronco biplane, is given the go-ahead by Shinra to launch a space rocket from his home town. Having looked forward to this time for ages, his excitement is mounting when his assistant, Shera, discovers a malfunction in an energy tank. She refuses to leave the soon-to-be-burning-hot chamber, and Cid forces himself to shut the rocket down before it can ignite. He refuses to forgive Shera for destroying his dream, and Shera lives with him in penance from then on, acting as a servant. [FF7]

15 – 10 B.G.:

• Hojo performs experiments using cells from the body of JENOVA. He infuses Shinra soldiers with JENOVA cells. The results are staggering – those who are infected have strength and skills far beyond normal persons. Based on these results, Shinra forms SOLDIER, a program designed to use and train an elite military force by infusing subjects with Mako and JENOVA cells. [FF7]
• Sephiroth is introduced into SOLDIER and quickly rises in the ranks. He is monitored continuously and shows promise far beyond anyone else. Eventually she gathers the interest of the Turks, as commanded by Hojo, who try many times to capture Aeris, but she eludes them. Aeris takes up a job as a flower girl in the Midgar slums. [FF7]
• Cloud and Tifa grow up next to each other in the city of Nibelheim. They are not particularly friends, however much Cloud would like it to be otherwise. After the death of Tifa’s mother, she runs into the Nibel Mountains. Cloud follows her, but a bridge they both stand on breaks, and Cloud is blamed for the injuries suffered by Tifa. They later have a conversation by a well where Cloud tells Tifa of his desire to go to Midgar and join SOLDIER, and promises to come back for Tifa if he should make it big in Midgar. [FF7]
• Hojo brings his experiments to the Mako Reactor in Nibelheim, which involve dousing human beings in condensed Mako. Eventually the humans become completely unrecognizable monsters, but they are watched closely in sealed containers. The suspended-animation device containing JENOVA is moved there as well. [FF7]

10 B.G.:

• Denzel is born to well-to-do parents in Sector 1. [OAWTAS: Denzel]

10 B.G. – 7 B.G.:

• President Shinra turns a SOLDIER hospital underneath Sector 0 of Midgar into Deepground, an elite battle unit whose soldiers undergo high-level Mako conditioning. The only others who know of this top-secret project are Hojo, Heidigger, and Scarlet. [DoC]
• Shelke and Shalua Rui’s mother passes away. [DoC]
• Zack, a Gongaga native who has moved to Midgar to join SOLDIER, meets Aeris. The two date for a while, but Aeris cannot take the fact that he is in such a violent organization and they break up [FF7 Conjecture: The time where Zack and Aeris date is never said, but it is reasonable to assume it was before Zack became a SOLDIER]

7 B.G.:

• Cloud moves to Midgar and joins Shinra. He attempts to join SOLDIER as well, but fails to make the cut. Instead he is relegated to a small position in the Shinra military force, little more than a grunt. [FF7]
• Shelke Rui is kidnapped or recruited by Deepground after they recognize her deep-diving abilities. Her sister Shalua begins her quest to find her. [DoC]

5 B.G.:

• Sephiroth, now a famous General from the Wutai-Midgar war, and Zack, a 1st class member of SOLDIER, are assigned to Nibelheim to investigate the Nibel Mako Reactor upon hearing of monster attacks. Cloud, a military grunt excited to be in the presence of the much admired Sephiroth, is assigned to accompany them, suffering motion sickness the whole truck ride over. [FF7 Conjecture: Also note that Cloud and Zack have become friends at some point during their individual training]
• Tifa Lockheart is assigned as their tour guide through the Nibel Mountains. She does not recognize Cloud, who is disguised under his military outfit. Someone takes a picture of them before they leave. [FF7]
• Sephiroth finds the JENOVA and Mako-infused monsters in the reactor, as well as the chamber holding JENOVA itself. He begins to doubt his origins and who he is. He discovers a secret library in Nibelheim where he finds out the truth about himself, that he was created with JENOVA cells from before birth. Overwhelmed by the new information and the lies he was told, he goes on a rampage, beliving himself to be the ‘chosen one’, the one to rule the Planet, and burns Nibelheim to the ground. Zack and Cloud find that he intends on taking JENOVA, who he now considers his true mother. Tifa runs up to the mountains for revenge, followed by Zack, who is in turn followed by Cloud. [FF7]
• As Sephiroth tries to open the chamber to JENOVA, Tifa takes Sephiroth’s sword (which he has carelessly left on the ground) and attempts to stab him for the death of her father. Sephiroth gets the better of her and slashes her, leaving her seriously injured on the ground. He enters the inner chamber and takes JENOVA’s head from its stasis container. Zack arrives to attack Sephiroth and is also stabbed and lies wounded. Cloud eventually comes, finds Tifa lying bleeding on the ground. Overcome by emotion, he takes Zack’s sword, and attacks Sephiroth. Sephiroth easily dispatches him, and runs him through the gut with his masamune. Cloud is seriously injured, but in a haze of emotion, somehow manages to grasp the sword by the blade and reverse the hold, throwing Sephiroth into the Lifestream beneath him. [FF7]
• Sephiroth drifts through the Lifestream and ends up in the Northern Crater, frozen. [FF7]
• Tifa is rescued by her martial arts instructor, Zangan. She makes her way to Midgar, where she opens a bar in Sector 7 called Seventh Heaven. [FF7]
• Zack and Cloud, both barely alive, are captured by Hojo, taken to the basement of the Shinra Mansion (also in Nibelheim), and used as part of his new experiment – to attempt to create Sephiroth clones (clones is something of a misnomer, as he is trying to make another Sephiroth through injection of JENOVA cells and concentrated doses of Mako). Most of Hojo’s other victims are from the ruins of Nibelheim. All other the experiments are failures, resulting in a vegetable-like state, and most end up in the slums of Midgar. Cloud does not take to the treatment – the JENOVA cells do not affect him. Hojo labels him a failure, but keeps him around. [FF7]
• Zack recovers more quickly than Cloud, probably because of his healthier constitution. When a guard comes to give Zack his food, he knocks out the guard, rescues Cloud (who can barely move) and escapes. He hitches a truck to Midgar, taking Cloud with him the whole time. After debating with himself, he decides that he and Cloud should become mercenaries. While climbing a cliff overlooking Midgar, they are chased down by Shinra soldiers. Zack is shot dead, but they leave Cloud, who can still barely talk and move. Cloud manages to crawl to Zack’s body and take his buster sword. [FF7 - There are some events in Last Order (a 30 minute anime extra in the JP version of FF7:AC) that conflict with the game. Events of the game are presented here.]
• Cloud’s mind, awash in pain and fear, confused and sick and neck-deep in self-denial, guilt, and shame, begins to construct its own version of the events of Nibelheim. He merges his memories with the role Zack played and takes his position in the occurrences, thinking he became a member of SOLDIER. He also glosses over his friendship with Tifa as if they were best friends. He somehow manages to make his way to the Midgar train station. Tifa finds him there, and decides to watch over him for a while. [FF7 - Why Cloud did what he did is conjecture, but reasonable assumptions can be made]
• Shinra orders Nibelheim to be rebuilt and populated with Shinra staff to oversee the actions of the Sephiroth clones from Nibelheim. They are ordered to pretend no catastrophe has ever happened there. (The flashback which shows the escape from Shinra Mansion is only seen in the American and International versions, not the original Japanese version) [FF7]
• Hojo takes the remaining body of JENOVA from Nibelheim and ships it to Shinra HQ in Midgar, minus the head that Sephiroth took with him. [FF7]

4 B.G.:

• Sephiroth finds that he can control Hojo’s attempted “clones” with his mind, although he cannot make them do anything of any value due to their vegetable state. However, he finds that he can control Cloud more effectively, as long as he does it on a subtle level. [FF7 - Conjecture]
• Shinra decides to build a Mako Reactor in the coal mining town of Corel, sending Scarlet, leader of Shinra’s military wing, as their representative. The plan is opposed by a man named Dyne, but his best friend Barret Wallace convinces him to let it go. The Mako Reactor is eventually built. [FF7]
• One day, when Barret and Dyne are outside the city, they return to see the city in flames. An accident occurred at the Reactor, and Shinra blamed the townspeople, burning the town. Barret’s wife Myrna and Dyne’s wife Eleanor are killed in the fire, but Dyne’s newborn daughter Marlene survives. The two attempt to return to the city, but are stopped by Scarlet. In the pursuit, Dyne falls over the edge of a chasm; Barret grabs his arm. While the two hang there, both thier arms are shot off by Scarlet. Dyne drops, but Barret survives. [FF7]
• Dyne survives the drop, unbeknownst to Barret. Both of them, overcome with anger, replace their missing arms with chain guns. However, Dyne’s mind deteriorates, flooded with grief from the tragedy, and he becomes unstable. [FF7]
• Gold Saucer, a huge entertainment complex, is built over the ruins of Corel, and the old town eventually becomes Corel Prison, where convicted criminals are held. The survivors of Corel move north and start a new town, called North Corel, but they remain a poor town. [FF7]
• Dyne moves to the Corel Prison and takes it over, becoming known as the Boss. Barret moves to Midgar with Marlene (whom he adopts), and starts a rebel group named AVALANCHE, intent on stopping Shinra wherever they turn. [FF7]

4 – 0 B.G.:

• Yuffie leaves Wutai in anger, and searching for Materia. It is her belief that bringing Materia will allow Wutai to protect itself and regain its honor and status. [FF7]
• Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon is captured by Hojo and used in an unrelated experiment. Hojo brands him “Red XIII”. [FF7]
• Cloud, now fully recovered, but still taciturn, begins to aspire to move out of Midgar. Wanting to keep an eye on him, Tifa approaches Cloud with a proposition. She convinces him to act as a mercenary for AVALANCHE, whose headquarters are in Tifa’s bar – Seventh Heaven. [FF7]

0 B.G.: (the events of FF7)

• Cloud’s first mission with AVALANCHE is blow up the Sector 1 Reactor. Cloud and Barret are aided by Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, and succeed in planting a bomb, disabling the reactor. Cloud meets a flower girl (Aeris) on the way out, who offers to sell him a flower for 1 gil. Cloud heads back with Barret to Seventh Heaven, where they are greeted by Tifa and Barret’s adopted daughter, Marlene. [FF7]
• Denzel’s parents move to Sector 5. [OAWTAS: Denzel]
• AVALANCHE carries out a second mission on the Sector 5 Reactor. However, they are visited by President Shinra, who leaves them to be destroyed by a new military robot. They disable the robot, but an explosion drops Cloud through the roof of a church in the Sector 5 slums, where he is discovered by Aeris. [FF7] The explosion kills the parents of Denzel and leaves him homeless, wandering to anyone who will take him in. [AC]
• Reno chooses this time to lead a faction of Shinra soldiers into the church in another attempt at capturing Aeris. Cloud helps Aeris escape and they travel to her house, where she introduces him to Elmyra. Cloud asks how he can get back to Sector 7, and is told that Wall Market, in Sector 6, is the only way there. Aeris offers to take him, but both Cloud and Elmyra agree secretly that he should leave without her. [FF7]
• Don Corneo, a playboy who lives in Wall Market, is ordered by Heidigger (head of Shinra’s “Public Safety Maintenance”, a euphemism for the Turks) to discover Barret’s whereabouts. He does so, but Barret finds out from Corneo’s assistant about him, as well. He keeps a harem of women and chooses one each night. Barret agrees to let Tifa infiltrate his mansion and extract whatever he knows from him. [FF7]
• Cloud makes it through Sector 6 alone, but finds Aeris waiting for him at a nearby playground. Before they can leave to Wall Market, they see a Chocobo-driven coach with none other than Tifa on it; Cloud resolves to find out what’s up. They continue to Wall Market. [FF7]
• Cloud and Aeris find out about Don Corneo. Aeris offers to go in herself, but Cloud refuses to let her. Aeris decides to dress Cloud up as a girl and have him infiltrate the mansion himself! They do so, find Tifa and rescue her from Corneo’s henchmen, and corner him in his room. They find out that Shinra is planning on destroying the entire Sector 7 to get at AVALANCHE. Before they can get there, though, Corneo drops them into the sewers and sics his pet monster on them. [FF7]
• They defeat the monster, make their way through the sewers and the nearby train graveyard. They find the pillar which holds up Sector 7 already under attack, with Barret and the other AVALANCHE members in hot battle. Aeris agrees to stay behind to look after the wounded. She finds Marlene there and sends her to her house in Sector 5. However, she is captured by Tseng. Meanwhile, Reno of the Turks activates the destruct sequence for the pillar, keeping Cloud and party occupied while it runs down. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret make it out alive, but the other AVALANCHE members perish in the explosion. [FF7]
• Barret finds Marlene at Aeris’s house in Elmyra’s care, and tells them to move away from Midgar, as it’s no longer safe. They listen to him and set off for nearby Kalm Town. The AVALANCHE members travel to Sector 0 via a wire in Wall Market, and enter the Shinra HQ in an effort to rescue Aeris. They’re helped by Mayor Domino, who’s sick of his office being abused by Shinra. [FF7]
• On the 66th floor they overhear a discussion about the destruction of Sector 7 and see Hojo for the first time. They follow him to the next floor up, where Cloud finds the headless remains of JENOVA taken to the HQ after Nibelheim. Nearby, they discover Aeris an a container. Hojo tries to get Aeris and a strange red beast in the same chamber for procreation reasons, but Barret blasts the chamber and a reaction occurs. Hojo quickly opens it, but is attacked by the beast, who turns out to be Nanaki/Red XIII. [FF7]
• The five people split up and agree to meet at the 66th floor elevator, but are captured by the Turks and brought to the top floor. President Shinra gives them a long-winded speech, then locks them in jail. However, a Sephiroth clone arrives during the night and slaughters everyone, including President Shinra. It also takes the remains of JENOVA’s body during its escape. Rufus, the President’s son, takes over as President. Cloud confronts Rufus on the roof while the others escape and Tifa waits for him, but Rufus takes a helicopter out as well. [FF7]
• Cloud and Tifa rejoin the others on the main floor; they escape using a motorcycle and a stolen truck. They end up outside Midgar, and Cloud tells them that they must search after Sephiroth. They travel to Kalm Town, where he explains the story (casting himself in the role of Zack, as this is what he believes) and vows to destroy Sephiroth. [FF7]
• They catch a nearby Chocobo and travel through a nearby marsh to the Mythril Mines. They meet Tseng, Rude, and a new member of the Turks named Elena, who’s taken over while Reno recuperates from his injuries in the Sector 7 pillar fiasco. She blurts out that Sephiroth has been seen in Junon. [FF7]
• Cloud and co. travel to Junon, where they rescue a girl named Priscilla and her dolphin friend from a water dragon. They’re told that Rufus is arriving soon in the upper levels of Junon. Priscilla lends them Mr. Dolphin to reach the upper levels. Cloud disguises himself as a guard and marches in Rufus’s welcoming parade. In the meantime, his other party members disguise themselves as sailors and stow away on a cargo ship, dragging Cloud with them when the parade is over. [FF7]
• Sephiroth (or rather, a clone controlled by Sephiroth) shows up on the cargo ship as well, and JENOVA attacks them. He quickly disappears after the battle. [FF7]
• Cloud and party end up at Costa del Sol, a vacation village. They meet Hojo, who’s on a vacation, but he tells them to go to Mount Corel. [FF7]
• They do so, and end up in North Corel, where Barret is accused of causing the fire that afflicted the village all those years ago. Barret gets angry and depressed, and Aeris suggests they go to the nearby Gold Saucer, a huge amusement park, to let off steam. They meet a toy cat riding a toy moogle, calling itself Cait Sith; it is controlled by Reeve, the head of urban development in Shinra; it insinuates itself as a spy into the party. [FF7]
• However, Dyne comes up for a visit as well, and butchers a bunch of people near the Battle Arena. A stunned witness claims it was done by a man with a gun on his arm, and Barret is indicted for the crime by Dio, the Gold Saucer’s owner. Barret and his friends (including Cait Sith) are taken to the Corel Prison. [FF7]
• Barret discovers Dyne in the Prison, and Dyne attacks him. Barret defeats him, and Dyne throws himself off the gorge for the last time. He gives Barret his necklace as collateral for Barret to get back up to the surface. The only way up is to win a Chocobo race, and Cloud volunteers for the job. He wins, of course, and Dio, by way of apology, lends him a Buggy to travel around in. [FF7]
• They take the Buggy to Gongaga, a town to the south. They meet up with Reno and Rude, who have been alerted to their presence by Cait Sith. They drive them off, though. They come across a deserted reactor and witness Scarlet and Tseng attempt to take materia from it; the materia is apparently not up to par. Scarlet is looking for Huge Materia (an extremely dense isotope) for a new weapon. They also meet Zack’s parents, but Cloud doesn’t remember Zack at all. [FF7]
• The Buggy shorts out after trying to get past Cosmo Canyon, so they are forced to take refuge there while a repairman fixes it. They are greeted warmly when the townspeople find out that Nanaki/Red XIII is with them. Red XIII introduces them to his grandfather, Bugenhagen. Bugenhagen wishes Red XIII to go with Cloud to defeat Sephiroth, but first intends to tell him the truth about his father. [FF7]
• He takes Red XIII and Cloud’s party through the sealed corridor (which is now infested with ghosts of the Gi tribe) and to the end, where Red XIII sees the stone visage of his father. Having been told the truth, he resolves to travel with Cloud to defeat Sephiroth. [FF7]
• Cloud and party reach Nibelheim. No one there recognizes them, however, since it is staffed by Shinra officers and vegetable-like Sephiroth clones. They descend back into the Shinra Mansion where they are met by Sephiroth (another clone) again. He flies away after mentioning the “Reunion”. [FF7]
• SIDE QUEST: Cloud finds the key to the room housing Vincent in the Shinra Mansion and convince him to help him fight Sephiroth and Hojo.
• Cloud and party travel through the Nibel Mountains to Rocket Town, where they discover President Rufus and Palmer, head of the space division of Shinra, trying to convince Cid to lend them his Tiny Bronco bi-plane. Cid refuses, and he and Cloud escape on the Tiny Bronco. However, Shinra soldiers shoot it down, and it becomes only good enough for a makeshift boat. [FF7]
• SIDE QUEST: If Cloud finds Yuffie in forests near Junon, they fight. After he beats her, she joins him when she realizes he has lots of Materia, and schemes to steal it at her first opportunity. After Cloud gets the Tiny Bronco, Yuffie suggests they visit Wutai. Once there, Yuffie steals all his Materia and runs away. He chases her throughout Wutai, and finds the three Turks on their break there as well. They are asked by Shinra to search for Don Corneo, but refuse. However, Elena and Yuffie become captured by Corneo, and the Turks agree to help Cloud save them and drop Corneo off a cliff. [FF7]
• SIDE QUEST: If Yuffie manages to defeat the bosses in the Tower of the Five Gods, including her father Godo, she and he will have a reunion and she will receive the materia to summon Leviathan, who is the protector of Wutai. [FF7]
• On the coast of the main continent, a weapon maker in a secluded hut tells Cloud about the Temple of the Ancients, a legendary place housing the Black Materia. The Black Materia has the power to call Meteor, an ancient destructive magic. However, he tells them that a Keystone is needed to enter the Temple. [FF7]
• Dio, owner of the Gold Saucer, has a Keystone and is willing to part with it if Cloud fights in the Battle Arena. He does so, and Dio is good to his word. However, the Ropeway connecting to the mainland has been broken, and Cloud and co. are stuck in the Gold Saucer. Cait Sith takes them to the inn in the Ghost Square to meet, talk, and sleep. [FF7]
• Cloud is awoken in the middle of the night by either Aeris, Tifa, Yuffie, or Barret (the character depends on how Cloud has responded to each of them throughout the game up to this point, usually it will be either Tifa or Aeris). Cloud and Cloud’s date have a night out in the Gold Saucer, partaking in a comic play in the Event Square and seeing the sights in the Round Square. However, they see Cait Sith with the Keystone. He runs away. They chase him to the Chocobo Square, where he throws the Keystone to Tseng, who escapes in a helicopter. Cloud threatens Cait Sith, but he plays a recording of Marlene, captured by Shinra, which stays his hand. [FF7]
• Cait Sith pleads to be allowed to follow Cloud to the Temple of Ancients; doubtless Shinra was there first, but they would still need to follow them there to find Sephiroth. Cloud finally agrees. [FF7]
• They arrive in the Temple of Ancients to find Tseng wounded by the Sephiroth clone. Sephiroth has continued to the bowels of the Temple, and Cloud and Aeris follow him. Aeris discovers the voices of Ancients telling her things inside the Temple; for starters, about the ultimate black magic Meteor which is kept via the Black Materia. The Sephiroth clone visits them and tells them that if he would call Meteor, the planet would unleash a huge amount of energy to intend to heal it; and if he were at the center of the planet, the energy would all channel into him. [FF7]
• They find the Black Materia itself. It’s kept in a strange puzzle; a miniature Temple of the Ancients, which itself contains another model, and so on; the Black Materia is in the bottom. However, by reaching it and canceling the models, the adventurer would cause the entire thing to collapse on him. Cait Sith (being a toy robot) volunteers to do it himself. He does so, and the Temple of the Ancients collapses, leaving the Black Materia at the bottom. Somehow, Tseng survives this, either by being carried out by another or his own volition. [FF7]
• Cloud finds the Black Materia, but Sephiroth controls him and forces him to give it to another clone, who begins the journey back to the North Crater. Cloud begins deliriously attacking Aeris, but is stopped by Cait Sith #2, who shows up at this point. [FF7]
• Now that the Black Materia is in the hands of Sephiroth, Aeris decides to travel to a sacred place, the Forgotten Capital. At its bottom is a water altar where an Ancient can summon Holy to counteract Meteor. Aeris tells Cloud in a dream she’s going to the Sleeping Forest, and leaves. [FF7]
• Cloud follows her to Bone Village, the entrance to Sleeping Forest. He excavates a Lunar Harp, which allows him to enter the Forest and Coral Valley, which leads to the Forgotten City. They wait until night, when the passage to the water altar opens, and discover Aeris praying there. However, she is given a surprise visit by a Sephiroth clone, who runs her through with his sword, killing her instantly. The White Materia she carries falls into the ocean and begins glowing green, indicating that Holy has been activated. However, the real Sephiroth in the North Crater stops Holy somehow. Cloud “buries” Aeris in the nearby pool. [FF7]
• Cloud follows the Sephiroth Clone north through the Snow Fields to Icicle Inn, where they find evidence of Dr. Gast and Ifalna. They are also met by Elena and some Shinra officers, who refuse to let them out of the village. Elena blames Cloud for Tseng’s death, and they fight. Cloud finds a snowboard and a map to the Great Glacier, and snowboards down the slopes to reach it. [FF7]
• They find their way to Mount Gaea, a huge, cold mountain. An old man named Holzoff offers shelter and advice before they climb it. At its top they finally see the Northern Crater. They continue down to the Whirlwind Maze, where the Reunion is taking place – all the Sephiroth clones are returning to him, where he cuts them down. [FF7]
• Rufus, Scarlet, and Hojo arrive in the Highwind, a Shinra airship. They discover the resting place of the Weapons. In the meantime, Cloud, Tifa, and the party find the Sephiroth clone who stole the Black Materia, and fight it out out of him. Cloud, though, is scared that Sephiroth may control him again, so he gives the Materia to one of his party members to hold while he goes ahead. Sephiroth, however, ends up tricking the party member into running after Cloud to the center of the crater. [FF7]
• Cloud is given an illusion by Sephiroth intended on confusing him; in fact, Sephiroth is only telling him the truth: that he *wasn’t* the SOLDIER at Nibelheim. Cloud’s mind begins to deteriorate. The party member arrives on the scene and gives the Black Materia to Cloud. Cloud is unable to resist Sephiroth’s mind and throws the Black Materia into the Mako pool where Sephiroth’s real body resides. Sephiroth immediately calls the Meteor spell. The remaining party members and Shinra officials quickly escape on the Highwind. The five Weapons are awakened. Sephiroth erects an energy barrier around the Northern Crater, stopping anyone from coming in. [FF7]
• Tifa and Barret are arrested and brought to Inner Junon, where Shinra plans on executing them publicly to blame them for the giant meteor on the horizon. Yuffie infiltrates Junon, posing as a reporter, Cait Sith as an official, and Cid and the others attempt to hijack the Highwind. Cait Sith helps Barret escape, but they are too late to save Tifa from the gas room she’s been put in. However, before the execution can take place, one of the five Weapons attacks Junon. The giant cannon is put into use and destroys the Weapon before it can do any major damage. It does manage to break the seal of the gas room Tifa is locked in, and she manages to escape. [FF7]
• Cait Sith rushes Barret to the Highwind. Tifa manages to elude Scarlet and her Shinra cronies until she reaches the very end of the Junon cannon, where she engages in a slapping fight. Before Scarlet can fire on her, though, Cid and Barret execute a daring rescue and they fly away on the Highwind. [FF7]
• Tifa leads the search for Cloud; they find him in the city of Mideel, suffering from extreme Mako poisoning. Tifa decides to stay with him, and Cid takes over as leader. Cait Sith offers news of Shinra’s new plan to create a cannon which utilizes Huge Materia as a weapon. Cid decides to stop the plans at all costs. [FF7]
• The first of four Huge Materia shipments is at the North Corel reactor. Cid leads a party there; they hijack the train holding it, and manage to stop the train before it crashes into the city. [FF7] [Note: The game allows the possibility of not being able to save the game, but it does not effect any of the other events of the game, except that the party continues to be spurned at Corel]
• The second is at the top of Fort Condor, where the people (who are trying to protect the condors at the top of the fort) have been waging war against the Shinra forces trying to take it over. Cid assists them and rescues the condors and the Huge Materia. However, the large condor at the top of the fort dies and leaves an egg, which hatches into a baby condor. [FF7]
• Cid becomes worried about Cloud and returns to Mideel, which is suddenly attacked by the Ultima Weapon! The city breaks up and Cloud and Tifa fall into the Lifestream. Here, Tifa and Cloud strive on getting at the truth, and the true version of the past is realized. Cloud remembers himself and he and Tifa escape the Lifestream. [FF7]
• Shinra takes the huge cannon from Junon to Midgar, to position it to destroy the barrier around the Northern Crater. [FF7]
• Cloud takes over as leader and leads the expedition to rescue the third Huge Materia. They travel to the Underwater Reactor in Junon. They are stopped by Reno, but beat the mechanical monstrosity he sics on them. They hijack a submarine and shoot down the one carrying the Huge Materia, later rescuing it from the wreckage. They then get a transmission to return to Junon (Shinra thinking that the sub is manned by their own troops). [FF7]
• The fourth and last Huge Materia is taken on the Gelnika, a Shinra transport, to Rocket Town. It is intended to be shot into space, along with a Materia bomb, to explode at the Meteor. Cid and Cloud travel there and beat Rude (who is guarding the rocket). They are given no warning before the rocket takes off, however (with Shera as its technician). They manage to unlock the Huge Materia and take it with them. However, the rocket is on a crash course for the Meteor and before they can reach an escape pod, an energy tank blows and crushes Cid. He is saved by Shera helping the other two party members, and apologizes to her. He notes that the tank which blew was the same one Shera was worried about during the first launch attempt. They take the escape pod back to Earth. The bomb damages Meteor, but does not disrupt its path (bits fly off it but are kept near the main bulk by magical forces). [FF7]
• They return to Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon. He tells them that he will watch over the Huge Materia, and reminds them that Aeris is probably the key to defeating Sephiroth. They return to the Forgotten Capital, where Bugenhagen finds reference to a key hidden in the depths. Cloud finds the key by using the Shinra submarine and searching underwater, and brings it back to the Forgotten Capital. It is used to activate a display which teaches them about the White Materia and the fact that Holy is on its way, but stopped by Sephiroth. [FF7]
• Cait Sith (i.e. Reeve) learns that the Sister Ray, the huge Junon cannon, is ready to fire, but before they can reach Midgar, the Diamond Weapon arises and heads towards Midgar! Cloud staves it off but can’t destroy it. The Sister Ray fires on Sephiroth’s barrier, destroying it and the Weapon, but not before the Weapon unleashes a counterattack, which destroys the Shinra HQ and kills Rufus. [FF7]
• Reeve finds out that Hojo is powering up the Sister Ray again, this time to full power, intending on sending the energy to Sephiroth in the Northern Crater. Cloud and party parachute into Midgar, intent on stopping Hojo. They are stopped by Elena, Rude, and Reno, and a fight breaks out, but the Turks run away after it. (The fight can be avoided.) They are then attacked by a huge monster piloted by Scarlet and Heidigger, which also fails to stop them. They finally find Hojo, who undergoes various mutations (using injections of JENOVA cells) before finally yielding to Cloud’s attacks. [FF7]
• Cloud and party finally make their way to the Northern Crater and descend into it, defeating JENOVA and Sephiroth once and for all. Meteor continues falling. Then the Holy spell comes forth. However, it is too late. Meteor is too close and the fierce combat of the two spells results in even more destruction. It seems not only Midgar will be destroyed, but the entire planet. Just then, Lifestream emerges from the Planet, aided by the consciousness of Aeris (and all those who died), and pushes back Meteor, neutralizing it once and for all. [FF7]
• Vincent and Yuffie lead a rescue operation of Midgar during Meteorfall. Vincent, acting on a hunch, climbs up the tower to discover Hojo is still alive, returned to human form, at the computer console where they left him. Just before Vincent is able to pull the trigger on his gun, the tower explodes, and Vincent manages to escape by jumping onto Yuffie’s “hover bike”. Hojo manages to activate the “Fragment Program”, a computer program that injects his consciousness into the “worldwide net” just before the HQ explodes. [DoC]

SIDE QUESTS: (These can happen at any point in the game providing the player has the ability to do them. For example, you will not be able to meet Lucrecia in the waterfall cave if you never found Vincent in the first place!)

• Vincent discovers Lucrecia in a waterfall cave. The only thing he can thing to say to her is that Sephiroth is dead. He later finds his best weapon (Death Penalty) and Limit Break in the cave. [FF7] This Lucrecia is only a projection of the real Lucrecia, who “crumbled away long ago”. [DoC]
• Cloud breeds his own chocobo in the chocobo stables, and runs them in races. He can find hints and tips about breeding by talking to a purple Chocobo Sage, who unfortunately suffers from periodic amnesia. Cloud breeds his Chocobos in such away they make ones with different transportational abilities (some can go in land, some rivers), ending in the Gold Chocobo, which can go anywhere. He uses these various Chocobos to visit four secret Materia caves; the Knights of the Round summon is in one of them.[FF7]
• Cloud chases after the flying Ultima Weapon in the Highwind, and gets the Ultima Weapon sword when he defeats it. It also causes a huge chasm in the Cosmo Canyon area, and Cloud can climb to the Ancient Forest, which houses another sword, the Apocalypse, as well as some other goodies like the Typoon summon. [FF7]
• Cloud visits the Gelnika, shot down by a Weapon (possibly Emerald Weapon) when flying to Rocket Town. Reno and Rude are here as well, and they initiate a fight. Much treasure is inside, including the Hades summon. [FF7]
• Ruby Weapon buries itself in the Corel desert, only poking out a claw to catch unwary travlers. Cloud manages to defeat it, and a trader in Kalm Town will gives him his own gold Chocobo. (This is only in the American and International versions, not the original Japanese version) [FF7]
• The Ghost Ship enemy in the Underwater Reactor drops a ‘Guide Book’ if morphed. Cloud gives it to the trader in Kalm Town who returns with an Underwater materia. This allows allows Cloud and the others to breathe underwater so they can defeat the Emerald Weapon dwelling under the ocean. (If Cloud does not have the master materia, he has twenty minutes to defeat the weapon before he dies). After he defeats Emerald Weapon, the trader gives him one of every Master Materia! (This is only in the American and International versions, not the original Japanese version) [FF7]

0 – 2 A.G.:

• Meteor is destroyed, but when Lifestream spreads over the Planet, it carries JENOVA cells with it (because JENOVA was blown apart inside the Planet and its pieces fell into Lifestream). These JENOVA cells are contracted by people and infect the body, which causes the body to fight back with its own spirit energy (the body’s internal lifestream). This internal conflict causes the body to overcompensate and causes fatigue, open sores, discoloration of the skin, secretion of black liquid, and eventually death. This disease becomes known as Geostigma and heavily affects the people, though they do not know what causes it, and thus, can’t cure it. [AC]
• Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, Vincent, Red XIII, and Cait Sith stop once at the Forgotten City to pay homage to their fallen comrade. They all split up as easily as they joined, but promise to reunite one day. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• Midgar is in a shambles. The people decide to stop using Mako, and thus, the Mako Reactors. Shinra Electric Company goes under (moreso) and Midgar is abandoned. [OAWTAS: Denzel]
• Tifa, Cloud, and Barret go to Corel and then to Nibelheim. They all decide they can’t live in the past and travel to Kalm. There, Barret reunites with Marlene and they tell Elmyra what has happened. Kalm becomes flooded with refugees, and the three decide to go back to Midgar to try and reestablish normal lives. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• The citizens form a city on the borders of Midgar, calling it Edge. They construct a monument to Midgar (a replica made out of debris) in the center of the town. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• Denzel continues staying with people who will take him in, suffering much heartbreak as people around him die of Geostigma. Eventually he joins a group of orphans who are hired to gather scrap material for the building of Edge. [OAWTAS: Denzel]
• Barret comes to the house one day with a bottle of Corel wine. After getting drunk he proposes they make a business out of selling the wine. They decide to build it in Edge, and sleep under a plate threatening to fall as they gather the parts to build it. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• The bar is built, and they end up calling it Seventh Heaven again. Barret becomes sort of a bouncer (although most of the time he just sits in a corner drinking wine), and Cloud takes it upon himself to gather the fruits, vegetables, and other goods needed to run the bar. He is having trouble socializing. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• After the first week, Barret says he needs to go on a journey to settle his past, leaving Marlene in Cloud and Tifa’s care. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• At some pont during this journey, Barret gets an upgrade to his gun arm, giving it the ability to look and operate like a normal arm. [AC Conjecture: We see Barret has a different gun which can change to look like a normal arm, albeit made of metal]
• Months after the bar opens, Cloud buys a bike, and spends most of his free time and money upgrading it. This allows him greater distances to travel to obtain goods. While traveling back and forth, he also starts earning extra money by delivering items for people. Tifa discovers this and encourages him to open up a side-business venture. Strife Delivery Service is formed – Tifa and Marlene take the calls, Cloud delivers the goods, although he can only go places he can reach on his bike. The business is successful, as monsters are still present, and lifestream geysers have ruined many of the roads. The business’ success also means Cloud isn’t around much anymore, and Tifa’s surrogate family finds itself in a rift. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• Eventually, most of the people move out of Midgar to this city, including Denzel’s group of orphans. Helpless and hungry, he finds a motorbike and a phone outside a church. He calls the number and accidentally calls Tifa. After a brief exchange, he collapses from Geostigma, and is brought to Tifa’s. He lives there helping out in the bar when he is not suffering from Geostigma’s ill effects. When she asks Cloud where he found him, she realizes that Cloud is staying somewhere else. [OAWTAS: Denzel and OAWTAS: Tifa]
• Denzel treats Cloud as a hero and father figure. Although Tifa is a little hurt by this, it means Cloud stays around more, taking less and less deliveries. Relations between everyone seem to be getting better, and Tifa believes their family has returned. [OAWTAS: Tifa]
• Tifa confronts Cloud about where he found Denzel. He confesses that he has been staying at Aeris’s church. After that conversation, Cloud leaves. The only way Tifa can get in contact with him now is through PHS phone messages (he never picks up). He does this because he feels guilt and shame for all those who died that he could not prevent, particularly Aeris. Also, he hides the fact that he has contracted Geostigma, which he covers with a single sleeve. Due to his Mako exposure, he has more intense symptoms, with flashes of pain and white light, and spasms in the affected arm. [OAWTAS: Tifa and AC]
• Reeve, having the financial backing of an anonymous sponsor (who Reeve suspects “is in debt to the planet”), starts up the World Regenesis Organization, a paramilitary outfit dedicated to cleansing the planet of its ills. Shalua Rui joins them; at this point, she has lost her left eye and arm in unidentified circumstances and uses a robotic arm. [OAWTAS: Denzel and DoC]
• Hojo’s neural consciousness is fragmented into the world network. When the world network is reactivated, his consciousness reforms. He uses his knowledge of Deepground, and Lucrecia’s experiments on Chaos and Omega to formulate a plan. [DoC]
• On his journey, Barret looks for alternative fuel sources, coming upon an oil field. [AC]
• Reno, Rude, Elena, Tseng, and Rufus Shinra, having survived everything, make base at the Healin Lodge (west of Midgar), where Rufus is recovering from being hit by Diamond Weapon. He also has Geostigma. With all that has happened, he realizes the mistakes of the past and decides he must reform them. Procuring a Shinra helicopter, he organizes a mission to Northern Crater to retrieve the last remains of JENOVA. [AC]

2 A.G.: (the events of Advent Children)

• Reno, Tseng, and Elena go to Northern Crater to retrieve JENOVA’s remains. The mission goes awry when they discover Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj there, and they are attacked. Reno is able to get away with JENOVA’s remains, but Tseng and Elena are captured by the three, and tortured for information. [AC]
• In Edge, Marlene helps Tifa take care of the orphanage, including a boy named Denzel, who has Geostigma. Tifa gets a call from Reno. He has asked her to tell Cloud to meet them in Healin. [AC]
• Cloud receives the message from Tifa and goes to Healin via the Wasteland. But he is attacked by Loz and Yazoo, who summon Shadow Creepers (monsters from negative lifestream energy). It becomes apparent that they are looking for “mother” and call Cloud “big brother”. But as soon as they start attacking, they stop, and Cloud makes it to Healin. [AC]
• Cloud is briefly attacked by Reno and Rude, who he easily shrugs off and discovers Rufus is alive. He appears confined to a wheelchair and has Geostigma. Rufus asks to hire him for his muscle, as he intends to restore Shinra as a benevolent power and set things right, to reform the mistakes he’s made. He tells Cloud about the mission to Northern Crater, but when seeing he is not interested in joining them, he tells Cloud they found nothing. [AC]
• Kadaj, after torturing Tseng and Elena, finds Rufus Shinra at Healin, and beats the snot out of Reno and Rude. Kadaj demands to know where “mother” is, showing him Tseng and Elena’s bloody ID badges to show he means business. Rufus replies he doesn’t know, that the remains they recovered fell from the helicopter. Kadaj reveals his plan to initiate another Reunion, using the Geostigma as the invitation. [AC]
• Tifa and Marlene find the church where Cloud is staying and discover a dirty arm ribbon, evidence he is hiding the fact he has Geostigma. Loz enters, looking for “mother”. He and Tifa fight, with Loz as the victor. Just as he’s about to kill her, Marlene throws a Materia globe at him from Cloud’s big box. Loz leaves, taking the materia and Marlene with him. [AC]
• Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo gather together the children affected by Geostigma, including Denzel, saying they are taking them to a place to heal them. [AC]
• Cloud returns to the church and finds Tifa unconscious in the flower bed. He suffers a bad attack from his Geostigma and wakes up back in the orphanage. Apparently, he was brought there by Rude and Reno, who go off to find what happened to the children. Tifa confronts him about his disease and why he kept it a secret. Cloud remains tight-lipped and closed off, saying he does not deserve help. Tifa asks him to open up, knowing Aeris is at the back of his mind, but Cloud refuses. Reno and Rude return, saying the children were brought to the Forgotten City. Cloud leaves to pursue them. [AC]
• Kadaj takes one of the materia Loz has brought with him and inserts it into his arm. He talks to the children at the pond in from of the Forgotten City. He tells them that “mother” gave them a gift, but the planet is trying to fight it, causing the Geostigma. He wants to heal them, to strike back at the Planet. He permeates the water with his will and commands them to drink. They all do, including Denzel, despite the pleas of Marlene. This activates their JENOVA cells and their Reunion instinct, with Kadaj’s hopes that this will lead them to JENOVA’s remains. [AC]
• Cloud arrives, ready for action, but the kids jump in front of his bike, causing him to skid out. He is attacked by the three, and fights a losing battle, but is saved at the last minute by Vincent. They retreat to a safe place in the forest where Vincent reveals his theory of what Geostigma is and what Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj are. Marlene appears, asking for him to stop isolating himself from those who are still with him and love him. Cloud decides to stop brooding and try gaining forgiveness. [AC]
• In Edge, the children have gathered around the monument to Midgar. Loz and Yazoo prepare to pull it down, believing this is where JENOVA is, but are surrounded by angry parents and summon Shadow Creepers to fend them off and cause chaos. Tifa tries to waken Denzel. Meanwhile, Rufus and Reno fight Loz and Yazoo. [AC]
• Meanwhile, Rufus looks at the chaos from a vantage point in a building somewhere in town. Kadaj approaches him, and Rufus asks what motivates him. Kadaj confesses of his jealousy of Sephiroth, who JENOVA really wants, but would do anything for “mother”. Rufus says history will repeat itself, and no matter what, Kadaj and his ilk would be stopped again and again. Kadaj answers back by summoning Bahamut SIN through the materia. Bahamut causes even more chaos in the town, as Kadaj has the ability to control it though the materia. He makes Bahamut rip through the monument with its flare attack. The explosion breaks the hold of the Geostigma on the children. Just as Bahamut is about to attack Denzel, Barret arrives and fends him off. The others arrive too – Red XIII, with Cait Sith on his back, Yuffie, Cid, and finally, Cloud. He says he feels lighter. The group all take turns fighting Bahamut off, jumping from building to building, as Bahamut destroys the place, but they are like ants to it. Cloud dives in with a little more success. [AC]
• Back at the building, Rufus reveals he has been holding JENOVA’s remains all this time under his cloak, and throws the box off the building. Kadaj dives after it. Rufus dives after him, shooting his gun. [AC]
• With Kadaj distracted, his control over Bahamut SIN is released, and Bahamut returns to his default behavior and rises in the air to attack with Mega Flare. Cloud jumps up in the air after it, being propelled by his friends Barret, Cid, Red XIII, Yuffie, Vincent, and Tifa. But it is not enough, as the force of the Mega Flare begins to push him back… until he receives a final hand from Aerith through the flare. Cloud drags his sword along Bahamut’s spine and he falls in a giant explosion. [AC]
• Shinra and Kadaj are still falling. Kadaj grabs the box, but Shinra shoots it open. Rufus is caught in nets thrown by Tseng and Elena. Kadaj recovers the box and escapes on a bike. Cloud pursues them through a closed-off highway. Reno and Rude wait with a flashy bomb at the end and detain Loz and Yazoo. Cloud and Kadaj jump off the highway, and Cloud loses him in the wasteland. [AC]
• Kadaj hides in Cloud’s church, opens the box, and screams when he sees the damaged contents. Cloud finds him and drives his bike into the church. They fight again, bringing down parts of the building. Just as it looks like Kadaj has the jump on him, the flowerbed erupts with a geyser of water/lifestream, flooding the church and repelling Kadaj. The water falls on Cloud, healing his Geostigma. Cloud pursues Kadaj outside and the Shera, holding Cloud’s friends, hovers nearby (including Yuffie, who has apparently gotten over her motion sickness). Vincent says that Kadaj is a remnant of Sephiroth, a larva. They discuss what to do, but Tifa says Cloud has to fight this alone. The others don’t understand, but go along with it. [AC]
• Cloud successfully defeats Kadaj, leaving him hanging on the ledge of a building with the box of JENOVA’s remains in his free hand. Kadaj falls back, holding the box, merging with the JENOVA cells. Cloud realizes what he’s about to do and dives in pursuit. Just as he is about to bring down his sword, he is blocked – by Sephiroth’s Masamune. They fight, as Sephiroth tells of what he wants to do, to choke this Planet and turn it into a vessel to sail the cosmos and find a new Planet. Sephiroth summons the spirit energy of those who died from Geostigma to turn the world to darkness. Cloud remembers those who he cherishes and defeats Sephiroth with Omnislash Ver. 5. Sephiroth wraps himself in his one black wing, saying he will never be a memory, and vanishes, leaving Kadaj’s form which falls. Rain falls, rain like that from the lifestream that flooded the church. It falls on Kadaj, healing his JENOVA cells, which makes him disappear. Cloud basks in the rain and his victory as the Highwind returns. [AC]
• Suddenly, he is shot in the back by Yazoo, who stands with Loz on the building, struggling not to disappear in the rain, using the ton of materia in their arms to sustain themselves. Cloud attacks as they release the power of the materia, causing an explosion. [AC]
• Cloud drifts through white space, being observed by the spirits of Zack and Aeris. He wakes up in the church, surrounded by his friends and the children, in the pool of lifestream that has flooded the floor. He pours the water over Denzel, healing him of the Geostigma. All the other children jump in, laughing and splashing around. As they have their fun, Cloud sees Aeris walking out of the church, with Zack in the doorway. Cloud smiles, knowing he’s been forgiven. [AC]

2 – 3 A.G.

• Vincent buys a cell phone.
• Hojo gains control of the body of Weiss the Immaculate, the strongest Tsviet (an elite member of Deepground). He uses this to control the other Tsviets (including Nero the Sable who has a deep affection for his brother Weiss) to begin gathering troops in order to 1) gain the Protomateria in order to bring about Chaos and 2) kidnap people not infected with Geostigma and drop them into Lifestream to purify it to bring about Omega. [DoC]
• Deepground steps up its attempts to awaken Omega by kidnapping and killing 1200 people from Junon. Their troops attack, discard anyone who has a hint of Geostigma, and take the “pure” victims to their headquarters, where they are slaughtered. They attack Wutai in the same manner. They also upload all of Lucrecia’s data to Shelke, who uses it to learn of the Protomateria. Shelke begins searching for Vincent in order to find the Protomateria. [DoC]

3 A.G. (the events of Dirge of Cerberus)

• Vincent is text-messaged by Reeve, who asks him to come to Kalm for a meeting. Some sort of festival is taking place; however, it is interrupted by Deepground, who attack again and finally reveal themselves. Shelke finds Vincent there, and she and Azul come after him. However, Shelke faints and Azul takes her away. Vincent meets Reeve, who’s pierced by gunfire, at which point his body comes apart, revealing Cait Sith, who’d “dressed up” as Reeve. Vincent later meets with the real Reeve, who tells him Edge is under attack. (It appears that most of the city had evacuated, as Shalua indicates that only 500 people are “still living here”) [DoC]
• The WRO tries to protect Edge, but Rosso the Crimson kills the entire squad. No one is left. [DoC]
• Weiss broadcasts a message to everyone, telling them the “pure” will be “spared for the cause” (i.e. taken to Omega and sacrificed) whereas the “tainted” (i.e. those with Geostigma) will be hunted down and killed in a variety of nasty ways. [DoC]
• Vincent and Reeve are attacked on the way to Edge; Vincent makes it there by himself. He meets Shalua briefly, but their distrust of each other has them go their own ways. Vincent saves a child from the Deepground forces, who helps him reach Rosso. Rosso attacks, but Vincent loses control and transforms into Chaos, blasting Rosso away. [DoC]
• Shalua finds Vincent and takes him to the WRO headquarters, where she tells him of the existence of Lucrecia’s thesis, “The Planet’s Pulse”, regarding the Chaos gene. However, Deepground, led by Azul and Shelke, invade and attack while they’re talking. Shelke invades the lab and the two sisters are reunited after ten years, though Shelke should be nineteen and looks nine. Despite Shalua’s gushing, Shelke attacks. Vincent uses tranquilizer bullets and Shalua takes her away. However, Azul pursues and attacks, but Reeve and Vincent destroy his Protect barrier with a rocket, and Vincent defeats him in battle. [DoC]
• Vincent heads towards the Shinra Manor in Nibelheim to find Lucrecia’s thesis; he goes via the sewers to avoid Deepground troops being deployed around it. At the same time, Cait Sith No. 5 is sent to the Deepground base under Sector 0. He sees Deepground’s sacrifice of the Kalm residents to Omega, but is destroyed by Nero the Sable before he can do or see anything else. [DoC]
• Vincent finds a hologram data disc of Lucrecia in the basement of Shinra Manor (the same place where Sephiroth was eight years ago). The disc cryptically explains that Omega is born of the Lifestream, and its purpose is to usher in the end of days by cleansing the planet of all living things. He finds four more parts of the Omega report (these sections appear to have been written by Dr. Grimoire Valentine, the other four found throughout the game were written by Lucrecia). In the main hall, he is attacked by Rosso the Crimson and a Deepground battle robot. With Vincent weakened from battle, she pulls the Protomateria out of Vincent’s body. Without the Protomateria to control it, he transforms into Chaos, but can’t move. Just before she can finish him off, Yuffie arrives and spirits Vincent away. [DoC]
• Yuffie and Vincent travel back to WRO Headquarters in a truck. Reeve contacts them to let them know his plan – they intend to launch a full offensive on Midgar and Deepground headquarters, deep within Mako Reactor 0. Shelke wakes up in a WRO lab where Shalua has been taking care of her (Azul is also unconscious in another lab). Shelke takes her weapons and prepares to fight her sister, but Shalua challenges her and it’s a standoff. Meanwhile Azul transforms into a giant Behemoth-like beast and begins rampaging through WRO HQ. This signals Deepground to attack again. The alarm sounds, heralding Deepground’s arrival. The truck reaches outside headquarters, but Yuffie gets a bang on the head and is out for the count, leaving Vincent to deal with the troops. [DoC]
• Vincent meets Shelke and Shalua at the same time that Azul catches up with them. Azul attacks Shelke, but she neutralizes his barrier. He turns back into a human and smacks her again, telling her that she’s no longer needed, now that the Protomateria has been found. Shalua grabs Shelke and shoves her and Vincent to a door which begins closing. She uses her robotic arm to keep the door open while they get through and apologizes to Shelke for letting her suffer so much. The door finally closes on her arm, crushing it, just Azul is upon her. All we see is liquid from her artificial parts seeping beneath the door. [DoC]
• Vincent finds Reeve in a destroyed office after the attack is over. At some point, the WRO find Shalua unconscious and take her to a regeneration tube. As Yuffie is watching over her, Vincent and Shelke enter. Shelke cannot understand why Shalua did what she did, how someone could give their life for another. Vincent tries to explain that she was Shalua’s “reason for living”, that that quality is what makes people human. Reeve tells Vincent that the Omega Reports he found in Shinra Manor are incomplete. Shelke says that the data fragments inside her head could be merged with the Omega Reports to complete the information. Just before this, Cid arrives in the Shera and everyone goes onboard. [DoC]
• Everyone aboard the Shinra works on preparing for the assault on Midgar. Reeve analyzes the Omega Reports. Shelke works on modifying the Shinra equipment in order to perform a “Synaptic Net Dive” (Shalua has also been moved on board). Cid works on piloting and coordinating the attack on the ground with Barret, Tifa, and Cloud. Yuffie, Cid and the others will attack from the air. [DoC]
• Shelke commences a synaptic net dive with Lucrecia’s data, merging the information. The Shera’s bridge erupts into a hologram of space (evoking images of FF10). Through Lucrecia’s voice, Shelke explains that Omega is a sentient being created of Lifestream. Its role is like a Weapon, but, before the Planet is about to end, Omega will awaken to gather all life unto it. When it has finished taking all the Lifestream, it will journey into the stars. So just as souls return to the Lifestream, so too will the Planet return to whence it came. In essence, Omega is a “elaborate safety mechanism designed solely to protect the flow of life”. Normally it poses no threate, but Deepground has been trying to awaken it by sacrificing pure souls to it, convincing the Planet the end is near. Reeve reports that Omega is being created from Reactor 0, which itself is being fed from the other 8 reactors. The air and ground assaults are meant to destroy the other 8 reactors and cut off Omega’s supply of Mako/Lifestream while Vincent infiltrates Reactor 0, at the center of Midgar. [DoC]
• Before they land, Vincent loses control of Chaos again. However, before anything nasty can happen, an image Lucrecia appears to him and calms him down. Shelke gives Vincent his cell phone back and tells him he can use it to contact her so she can guide him on the way to Deepground. [DoC]
• The attack begins, the missiles fly. Yuffie and the first wave fly out the Shera on some sort of “hoverboard”. The ground troops clash and Rosso meets Cloud head on. Azul attacks the airships with a giant rocket launcher, hitting the Shera. Vincent escapes an explosion with the second wave and glides down to Midgar dodging shots. Shelke contacts him and tells him he’s missed his target, landing in the Train Graveyard (yep, the same one we saw at the beginning of FF7). Shelke guides him through the graveyard to the center of city, and the central complex. But he finds Rosso at the entrance to the Shinra Building. Midway through battle, she turns into Bloodburst Rosso. He defeats her, but rather than give anyone the pleasure of killing her, she destroys the part of the building she’s standing on, and falls into the depths. [DoC]
• Shelke tells Vincent that the assault on the other Mako Reactors has not been completed, they are still functioning. From the central complex, the only way to Mako Reactor 0 is to go up into a secret entrance in the President’s office. Vincent is again assailed by Chaos, who tries to awaken. Shelke/Lucrecia explains that Chaos exists inside him, but independently. It is the being who will “gather all life” for Omega at the end of the Planet. [DoC]
• Shelke’s helmet malfunctions and she loses contact. She goes up to the bridge to see what’s going on. Cid notices engine levels dropping; Shelke goes to investigate. She finds the engine room half-destroyed, and meets Nero the Sable there. He has already killed the entire crew. Shelke attacks him, but he draws her into his darkness. Shelke survives by using her magic to form a spherical shield against the darkness, but the shield has already begun weakening. [DoC]
• Vincent travels through the Shinra building and finds the way to the undercomplex of Shinra HQ. When Vincent tries calling Shelke, he gets “User Not Available”. Immediately after, though, he’s then contacted by Cloud, Tifa, and Barret on his cellphone. They tell him they lost contact with the airship and send him a map of the Shinra Building (remember, he wasn’t with them when they were there the first time). [DoC]
• When Vincent gets on the elevator to take him to Mako Reactor 0/Deepground HQ, he encounters Azul. They battle, the second round Azul turns into Arch Azul – his beast form. Vincent is simply not strong enough to kill him. He then turns into Chaos, and transforms Azul back to human. Then he hurls Azul’s own gun right through his chest. Azul laughs and drops into the abyss. Vincent goes unconscious as Nero hovers nearby. He drops Shelke’s cellphone near his body before vanishing. [DoC]
• On his way through the underground city, Vincent is suddenly engulfed by Nero’s darkness, but Shelke tells him darkness cannot control him since he has Chaos and a part of him was born from it. He escapes the darkness unharmed. At the gateway into the reactor, he meets and fights Nero, who drags him into darkness again after telling him that Shelke is in there too. Vincent lets himself be swallowed by the darkness; this time, he finds Shelke and gives her back her cellphone before taking her out with him. Nero attacks again, but Yuffie intervenes just like in Shinra manor, and he disappears. [DoC]
• Vincent finds a room with a Mako tube (similar to what Cloud and Zack had in Shinra Manor) and puts Shelke in one so that she can recover. Vincent goes off to find Nero and Weiss, and Yuffie goes after the reactor; however, their paths soon converge. [DoC]
• They find Weiss, dead (or unconscious) at the center of the reactor. Nero stops them, though, shoving them into his darkness again. Vincent grabs Yuffie and escapes it yet again. Nero transports Vincent some bizarre realm (think Xen from Half-Life) and transforms into Arachnero. Midway through battle, he transforms into Gorgonero, but Vincent defeats him as well. After it’s over, they come back to the reactor room and Nero stumbles toward his brother Weiss the Translucent, who is beginning to awaken. [DoC]
• Weiss spears him through his chest, saying he has no more use for him, and tosses him aside. Weiss reveals that he is really none other than Hojo. The “Fragment Program” he initiated at Meteorfall dispersed his consciousness throughout the computer networks, then was brought back together. Now, using Weiss as his indestrucible body, he will merge with Omega to “traverse the cosmos in a blaze of glory”, just as Vincent has merged with Chaos. (His original plan was to perfect his body by injecting JENOVA cells, but we all see how that turned out). Vincent attacks Weiss/Hojo but has his ass handed to him. Lucrecia/Shelke appears to him and urges him to control Chaos rather than letting it control him. Vincent succeeds in doing it, using Weiss’s Protomateria to use Chaos’s power while still in human form. Vincent battles Weiss Empowered, and defeats him, flinging him into a wall, rendering him unconscious. [DoC]
• Nero gets up, having become “Dark Nero” and stumbles over to the incapcitated Weiss/Hojo. Helpless, Hojo watches “Dark Nero” embrace his brother and merge with him. The impurity of the darkness drives Hojo out and he disappears. Weiss/Nero walks to the Mako reactor and the Mako bursts up. Outside Midgar, a giant Weapon begins to form, attaching tubes of Lifestream from the reactors and feeding from it. Omega has awakened, and Vincent has transformed into Chaos. However, Chaos is unable to damage Omega, due to some sort of forcefield. [DoC]
• Shelke does a synaptic net dive into Omega, treating the Lifestream that makes it up as a giant network, in order to find the Protomateria. Being restricted by ropes of darkness, she finds a bright light obscuring a woman (Lucrecia) holding it out to her. Shelke (or her astral projection) bursts out of Omega’s head, and dives toward Chaos. Shelke shoves the Protomateria in his chest (and an image of Lucrecia bathed in white pushes it in further, before she is wrapped in a black strand and pulled back into Omega’s wound, where his head reforms). Lucrecia’s memories and true feelings seep into him. Newly invigorated, Vincent/Chaos rescues Shelke, materializes a gun out of midair (known as “Death Penalty”) and tells her that “he has a story to end”. [DoC]
• While Vincent/Chaos tries to get closer to Omega, Cloud, Yuffie, and the others finally manage to blow the reactors, separating Omega’s ties to Lifestream and some of his strength. With the cheers of his friends in the background, Vincent/Chaos dives into Omega. He works his way through to the core, being hampered by organic security probes. He finally manages to destroy the Omega Cocoon which holds Weiss inside. After freeing Weiss, they scuffle. Then Weiss attaches to a giant machine monster through strands of Mako and becomes Omega Weiss. After his defeat, Weiss sinks into the ground. Outside, Omega crystallizes. His majestic wings become alive and he begins ascending to the sky. Vincent/Chaos soars out of Omega and flies ahead. As the counterbalance to Omega, only he can end it. Vincent/Chaos flies forward into Omega and causes a giant explosion (one that can be seen from space!). However, the explosion apparently harms no one, and the white cloud disappears. There’s no trace of Omega or Chaos. The particles of Lifestream disperse, along with a collection of purple fragments (Chaos), and return to the Planet. [DoC]
• We also see Shalua’s tube standing somewhere in Midgar. The glass is cracked and she remains prone. Her fate remains unknown. [DoC]
• One week later, Shelke is adjusting to a normal life and has some coffee in the refurbished 7th Heaven Bar in Edge. Tifa, Yuffie, and Red XIII are also there. Cloud is searching for someone (Vincent or Shalua). But Shelke knows where he is. [DoC]
• Vincent is visiting Lucrecia’s waterfall cave again and leaves after he says to her “Thank you. It was you. You were the reason I survived.” We see a single tear drop from the crystallized form in the cave. He goes outside to see Shelke waiting for him, watching the cloud-like remnants of Omega in the sky. [DoC]
• Underneath Midgar, Weiss lies on a slab of rock, his gun-swords at his side. A mysterious man, known only as G, appears and says “It is not yet time for slumber. There is still much to do, my brother”. His eyes shine with mako and a white wing sprouts out of his left side. He flies off. (This is a a secret scene, only shown if you collected all three “G-Reports”) [DoC]

500 A.G.:

• Red XIII and his grandchildren climb to the top of

  Cosmo
  Canyon and look at the ruins of Midgar, now covered in greenery and forest. [FF7 and AC]

Wanted

Wanted: Lim Tze Yang ( A.K.A The noobest noob ever) 

Reason for being wanted: Being SOO pathetic and ruining the ‘good name’ of  SMK USJ 4.  

Age: 14 

Gender: Not very sure 

Description: The ugliest guy in SMK USJ 4 , pathetic looking and very very very clumsy in everything. Was never successful in anything. So all u need to do is to find a guy tht destroys everything. 

Reward: U get to smack him all u want J

Me and the Computer Club

I am officially the documenter for the school’s computer lab… Well it’s hard to survive in this post… a lot of reports and documents so as archive work… But… i still learn a lot from this post… and all of us (the commitee members) teach each other what to do… being a commitee member also gives us advantages… well i cant say… but a lot of advantages… So try to be a commitee member in any society…

gettin to use the advantages of life

Now is the best time we get to fix our mistakes and do what is right… We have to accept our mistakes and we cant blame other people… It’s their own problem if they don’t want to fix their mistakes… From this, we get to be better people for the future… being great future leaders… Like ME.. Juz joking … but i hope this is me…

Life

life is very precious all way value life unlike some people who have road rage. i have a friend she does not value life according to her blog that she hates her life iwas thinking   ”aiyo why she don’t value her life’. we should value our life that god gave us.

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