Water.

That one thought encompassed the man’s entire mind. God knew how long he’d been down here. Nothing to eat, or drink.
He’d kill his own mother for a drink if she weren’t already dead.

His father, on the other hand, was another story. Godo Kisaragi had stepped over the line big time. He felt his eyes rolling back
in his head and felt himself losing consciousness once again. He forced himself awake by biting on his lower lip. The gush of
blood was a welcome wetness in his mouth. He was careful not to let any of it escape. He drank the warm flow of his own
blood and wondered how he’d been bested.

He didn’t have much time though, for a crack of light opened above. He tried to look but he could move, his eyes felt like ball
bearings wedged in his skull.

He weakly sense someone kneeling next to him. He thought that they’d finally come to kill him, and he welcomed it. He was to
far gone to feel anything, anyway.

To his surprise, he felt another wetness on his mouth, only this time, it wasn’t blood, it was water! He drank greedily from the
pitcher that the water was coming from and soon it was empty.

“More,” he croaked.

“That’s all for now,” the deep voice commanded. Reno looked at him and was appalled by what he saw. The strong elderly
man, wearing the traditoinal robes of a Wutainese warrior.

“Godo.”

“Call me dad.”

On his side, Reno laughed, he meant for it to sound sarcastic, but it was little more than a cough that threw up a small cloud of
dust below his face.

“Godo,” he said, not paying attention to his suggestions, “After what you did, you think I would call you my father?”

“Why must you be so selfish?”

“Why must you be so arrogant?” Reno countered, “You knew that war was doomed from the start. You are the selfish one,
you wanted me for yourself. You thought I was getting too close to Hui so you sent him to the front lines. You are a bastard, I’ll
never forgive you.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Godo got up and walked away.

“Wait.”

Godo stopped and turned his head slightly. “What is it?”

“I may not forgive you, but I know when I’m beaten. Name anything, just let me out of here.”

“All I want is for you to call me father.”

“Fine, damn. Let me out…father.”

“That’s better, now get up, we’ll get you a nice meal and have you cleaned up.”

Reno fell back and wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

                    _______________________________________________________

“You seem to be too curious for your own good…”

Even as he was finishing with his sentence, Cloud shot up from his bed. He’d already had that dream and didn’t want to stick
around for the conclusion.

As his vision cleared, he shifted his position and felt a small, sharp object poke him in the small of his back. There was
something in the bed, that was strange, hadn’t he checked it?

He took a breath and quickly exhaled, gagging. And why did his room smell so awful?

As Cloud shed the last few restraints of sleep, he knew that he wasn’t in his room, and then bits and pieces began coming back
to him from the past couple of days. Cait Sith, coming to his door for help. He, along with Tifa and Cait, roaming through a
field. After that…

Carnage.

No, that wasn’t supposed to…

Death.

No! Stop it!

Failure.

Yes. Cloud Strife was all of those things; those voices were none but his own. He’d blacked out again, and that never meant
anything good had happened. And as usual, he was right.

He glanced about at his surroundings, unsure of what to make of it. It seemed like someone had tried to make a prison out of a
barn. But why would anyone do that? His confusion turned to outrage when he realized that he was at the wrong end of those
bars.

Cloud sighed. He’d finally done it. He either turned against his teammates, or allowed them to be captured. Maybe both. He
noticed a dull pain in his head and began to rub the large welt that had formed there.

He began to piece the small bits of information together in his head. It was a barn, and they’d been headed to the Chocobo
stables, so it was very conceivable that was where they were. Maybe he’d gone berserk and was clubbed on the back of the
head by the police?

Yeah, the official Chocopolice. Try again, Strife.

Ok, maybe he wasn’t the one who went crazy. Maybe Choco Bill did, and captured them. He may have slipped a drug into
their foods. But that didn’t seem likely, Cait would certainly not be affected by anything pharmaceutical.

Cloud winced. It didn’t explain the large welt on his head either. It would all come to him in the morning. He slowly felt himself
sliding into unconsciousness. He probably shouldn’t go back to sleep, if he truly had a concussion, he should really try to stay
awake.

But all of that seemed irrelevant now. With a yawn, Cloud Strife slowly pulled himself onto his cot, closed his eyes, and slept.

                    _______________________________________________________

“You seem to be too curious for your own good…”

Then the blonde-haired man disappeared.

It was now down to he and the mysterious figure. He merely waited for what would happen next.

“If you delay any longer, it will be too late.”

Was the figure talking to him? He didn’t have time to ponder that question as it began to speak again.

“Yes, I am talking to you. Mr…. Oh, I’m sorry, they never gave you a last name.”

Salkas felt his rage building, how dare this thing mock him.

“I’m terribly sorry. But you’ll have to trust me. To delay now would be more costly than when you delayed your escape.”

“What?”

“You could have saved her, Salkas. Could have saved your sister. But instead you let her be killed.”

“By a madman that you controlled!”

The figure seemed to hesitate. “So… You were here then, too. This complicates things a bit. I didn’t want to have to tell you
this, but…”

“What? Tell me!”

The creature sighed, “You wouldn’t believe me anyway…”

“I’ll choose to believe what I want.”

Although its face was hidden, Salkas could ‘feel’ it grinning, “Clever boy. Very well I shall tell you. The Shinra is reforming in
Junon. In just a few days, they will be back in full strength. After that time, any attempt to bring back your sister will be
impossible.”

“There’s a way to bring her back?”

“There is always a way.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Let’s just say we have a common foe.”

“Yes, but…”

“This conversation is over!”

Salkas sprang from his bed in a heartbeat. He was impatient and ready to go. He looked at Yuffie and Vincent. Vincent
seemed to be asleep, and Salkas was surprised when he spoke.

“What happened?”

“I had a dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

“About my dream? It doesn’t matter, dreams aren’t real.”

He said that, but did he really believe it?

“Sometimes that which our conscious cannot make sense of our subconscious has no trouble with. Plus, I’ve learned to trust the
instinct of my companions, especially the Cetra…”

Salkas looked at Vincent, then decided he was right. He explained the dream in as much detail as he could.

“I see,” Vincent said when he was finished. Then he looked at Yuffie.

“We’ll let her sleep one more hour, after that we must be on our way…”

                    _______________________________________________________

There was no chance in hell that the repairs on the Highwind would be finished any time soon. Right now it was just a very
expensive paperweight. Hell, if it wasn’t for Wutai’s cooperation, it wouldn’t even be in Rocket Town, Cid took a breath, and
inhaled nothing. He swore. In his haste, the cigarette he had been smoking had dropped to the ground. He rummaged through
his jacket pockets and came up with another pack. He smirked when he saw the brand name. ‘Lady Luck,’ by far the most
obscure cigarette brand on the planet. He’d found a pack when he was sixteen and started smoking. He’d never changed
brands, and never would. Sometimes when he asked for a pack of Lady Luck cigarettes, he would be given cheap imitations.
But Cid could tell.

Lady Luck was a constant in a life that had seen many ups and downs, literally. Cid had been in the skies for most of his life.
He’d even been to outer space. Then there were the times when Shera had temporarily delayed his dream but now he forgave
her. It was her job to be meticulous. Cid felt awful for blaming her all those years. He thought now that the threat to the planet
was over, he could try to make it up to her.

After the Highwind was repaired.

He would have to call Barret soon. He took one last draw from his cigarette then stamped it on the ground.

"No time like the present," he muttered, reaching for the PHS.

                    _______________________________________________________

Vincent wasn't surprised when Barret had asked to go with them. Of course, they had accepted. Although his temper often got
away from him, Barret was definitely someone you wanted on your side.

The man in question had fallen behind; Vincent turned around and saw a confused look on his face.

"What's wrong?” Vincent asked.

"Nothin', it's just that..." Suddenly a look of recollection appeared on Barret's face, "Shit! I forgot to call Cid and tell him that
we don't need the Highwind anymore! Wait up will you guys?"

As Barret was reaching for his PHS, it rang. Barret jumped back a bit before he regained his bearings and answered it.

"H-hello?"

"Hey Barret! What's up?" The voice on the other end said.

"Cid? We was just talkin' 'bout you!"

"Nothing too damning I hope. I just called about the Highwind..." there was a note of disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah! Don't worry 'bout it Cid-man, we don't need it anymore!"

"Yeah, it's just that-" he paused, "You what?"

"That's right, don't need it!"

"Give me the phone," Vincent interrupted.

"What? Why?” Barret asked, confused.

"Huh?” Cid said on the other end.

"Ok, whatever. Here Cid, it's Vincent."

"Cid?"

"Yeah, how you been Vincent?"

"Do you still have the Tiny Bronco?"

"Yeah, sure, but-"

"Take the Tiny Bronco to Cosmo Canyon and pick up Nanaki, then head for Kalm as quickly as you can."

"Yes, but... Nevermind, I'll do it Vincent."

"Good, if you find anything out of the ordinary, be sure to call us.” Wordlessly, Vincent hung up.

"What next, o' fearless leader?” Yuffie asked mockingly.

Vincent ignored her, "Barret, do we have any transportation? Chocobos, dune buggies? Anything like that?"

"We have the buggy that Dio gave us.”

"It'll work. Let's go, we have to get to Costa del Sol as soon as possible."

                    _______________________________________________________

"Aren't you going to eat that?"

Reno poked the half-eaten sashimi around on his plate, bored with the way things had turned out.

"Are you?"

Reno shoved the plate away. He looked at the clock, 11:00. He swung his fork in rhythm with the pendulum at the bottom.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Suddenly his face turned pale. "Oh shit!"

"Now son, there is no need for such language..." his father admonished.

Reno wasn't paying attention. His thoughts were on the Wutai Bridge, he'd expected Rude and Elena to remain here, had
demanded it. And if they didn't listen to reason well…

So while they camped out, Reno had set the bomb. He could have just cut the ropes, but that would have been too obvious.
Instead, he rigged about an entire block of C4 to explode at 12:00 noon, today. He had less than an hour to stop them, he
hoped he wasn't too late.

He glanced at the clock again, 11:03, he could delay no longer.

"I have to leave."

"Now son.”

Reno reached under the table and flung it forward. Dazed, Godo toppled to the floor. The guards stared in surprise as Reno fist
first knocked one back far enough for him to shove the other out of his path and through the door.

The hallway was clear. Reno made a mad dash for the exit. He hit the door going at full steam and the door guards didn't even
have a chance to react as he blew by them.

He looked around for a car, a motorcycle, something he could use. A young couple riding double on their way out to the
Pagoda drove by. He ran up to them.

"Wutai guard, sir. I'm going to have to confiscate that vehicle."

"You ain't getting my bike until I see a badge."

"Badge? Oh yeah, it's right here..." Reno reached down into his pocket, the man looked with him.

Excellent.

Reno brought his fist straight into the weak spot between chin and neck. The man was out like a light. He cast a menacing glare
at his frightened girlfriend.

"Off."

She was more than happy to oblige.

                    _______________________________________________________

In North Corel, Vincent and the others were jumping into the dune buggy. Vincent hopped into the driver seat and Barret took
shotgun. Salkas and Yuffie grumbled as they squeezed their way into the back seat.

“Hey Barret, you think you can move the seat up a bit?” Yuffie asked in a weak voice. Her legs were nearly being crushed.

“Wazzat? Seat don’t go no further!”

Yuffie was skeptical, she saw that Vincent’s seat was pushed up quite a bit farther than Barret’s. She was about to tell Barret
when she glanced to the side and another idea came to mind.

“Salkas, want to switch seats?”

A confused look crossed his face, then he made a pathetic exaggerated laugh. He slapped his hand on his knee. His message
was clear.

Yuffie was undaunted. A smile played across her face. She had an idea of how to make him move. She reached down and
unclasped her seat belt.

“What are you doing?”

She said nothing, just slid in over to where Salkas was sitting. She turned to face him, knees propped on the seat. She leaned
forward and began to speak.

“Am I going to have to make you move?” she raised her eyebrows when she said ‘make.’

A silly grin appeared on Salkas’ face, “Yep!”

“Ok,” she leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching, suddenly her hand shot out and she pinched the pressure
point between his neck and shoulder, “Move.”

Salkas’ head was tilted to the left and there was a grimace on his face. She held him by the pressure point then simultaneously
threw him into her seat and sat in his. He turned around, his face glowing bright red.

She heard Barret snickering in the front, “Hey Vince, looks like ol’ Yuffie’s a tease!”

“Wazzat?” Yuffie said, imitating him. She pinched her fingers together a couple of times and quieted his laughter.

                    _______________________________________________________

Rude and Elena were about to the Wutai Bridge when they heard the engine. It sounded like a motorcycle.

“Hurry up, Rude,” Elena advised her companion, “That looks like Reno, we don’t want any trouble from him.”

Rude squinted, how could she tell? He wasn’t that sure himself. He nodded and started across the bridge.

                    _______________________________________________________

No! His mind screamed.

Reno sped across the plain, they were in sight!

Please don’t let it end this way.

“Rude!” he yelled, his voice inaudible over the engine’s roar.

Time seemed to slow as Rude stepped onto the bridge. He turned around and motioned for Elena to follow. Before she could,
Rude hit the trip wire. The fragile bridge was engulfed in flame. The last nerve in Reno’s brain snapped. As he watched Rude
struggle for purchase as he fell down the cliff, his last sentient thought was this: redemption.

Reno’s face was cleared of all emotion. He spied a brick wall. His face didn’t even change as he veered the motorcycle to the
right.

My fault. Never will this happen again.

Then Reno uttered his final words, “Neve-“

To Home