The tall cloaked figure moved slowly in the shadows. The town of Costa Del Sol was silent, but he knew he could not afford to be seen. He was completely exhausted, having been travelling both day and night, and it was only his strong determination that was keeping him on his feet.
Finally he reached his destination, the bar, 8th Heaven. In the distance, he heard a clock strike midnight. He quickly pushed the door, praying that it wasn�t locked. It opened and he gave a small sigh of relief as he hesitantly stepped inside.
The lighting was dim and, looking around, the man could see only two people. One was passed out across the table and the other was fast asleep in the corner. There were a bunch of empty beer glasses on the bar, but there was no one serving behind the bar. It had obviously been a busy night.
The man scanned the whole room with his sharp eyes, then, sensing that it was safe, made his way to the bar. He sat down on one of the barstools and poured himself a drink, which he downed quickly. Then he wrapped his thick, black cloak around his body and waited.
He didn�t have to wait long. Five minutes later, the door opened and a young woman came in, carrying three large shopping bags.
�Cloud� she called loudly. �Where are you?� She was tall with long brown hair and she was wearing a pair of black shorts and a long blue shirt. The man stood up and moved towards her. She had her back to him and didn�t see him coming.
�Excuse me� he said quietly. �Are you�Tifa Lockheart?� The woman jumped and dropped her shopping bags, spilling her shopping across the floor. Slowly she turned round, her fists raised.
�I might be,� she replied. �Who are you?�
Without a word, the man unfastened his cloak and let it fall to the floor. Tifa stared at him, open-mouthed. He wore a torn red shirt and a pair of black trousers. On the middle finger of his left hand, he wore a ring with a red stone. His short, black hair contrasted badly with his white skin and bright green eyes. Tifa was left in no doubt about whom he was.
�Oh God.� she whispered, shocked. �You�re Billee. Billee Clark� The man nodded as she ran over and threw her arms around his neck. �I can�t believe it,� she said over and over again. �I thought you were dead.�
�Not me. They�ll never kill me.�
�The others? Benny, Warren, what of them?�
�I haven�t seen either of them since Midgar was destroyed four months ago,� Billee told her wearily. �I�ve heard that Warren is alive and is hanging around the North continent somewhere. Benny could be anywhere. I�m not even sure if he�s dead or alive.�
�Cloud and I haven�t seen the others either,� Tifa said sympathetically. �Not since Meteor was destroyed. We hear from them occasionally, but we never get the time to go and visit them.�
�So,� Billee knelt down to help Tifa pick up her shopping. �Are you and Cloud a couple now?�
�Yes,� Tifa giggled and blushed. �After Meteor was destroyed everyone went their own ways and Cloud and I were left alone. Then Cloud brought this bar and said we could both run it and we just sort of became a couple.�
�I see,� Billee said quietly. �Does he treat you well? Are you happy with him?�
�Yes I guess.� Tifa turned away, her arms full of shopping. �I had better take this out back,� she called over her shoulder. �Help yourself to a drink.�
When Tifa came back, Billee had poured a drink for himself and one for her. Thanking him, she sat down and tucked her hair behind her ear.
�So why have you decided to come back here?� she asked after a moment. �I mean we spent all this time thinking that you were dead��
�I know and I am sorry,� he said sincerely. �I just�I didn�t plan to come back here, not really. But I�there�s soldiers after me.�
�Soldiers!� Tifa sounded surprised. �But didn�t Rufus, Hojo, Scarlett and Heidegger all die when Midgar went down? Reeve wouldn�t send soldiers after you.�
�No, I know he wouldn�t,� Billee said with a sigh. �These aren�t Shinra soldiers anyway, at least they don�t look like them. They all wear black uniforms and carried about four weapons each. And they aren�t infused with Mako either.�
�How long have they been around?� Tifa asked. �Has there been anything strange happening anywhere else?�
�The soldiers appeared about two weeks ago,� Billee shrugged. �As for anything else, no, not to my knowledge. You still get the occasional monster here and there, but that is to be expected. There hasn�t been an increase in monsters or anything like that. Just these soldiers appearing from nowhere. It�s kind of strange.�
�It is strange,� Tifa agreed. �But it�s probably nothing. Maybe a scientist from another continent found out about your blood and wants you for experiments. You can stay here for a few days, Cloud won�t mind. You can have the spare room, the bed is already made.�
�Thanks Tifa,� Billee gave her a weary smile. �You are a good friend.�
�Sleep well,� Tifa called after him. Billee turned back, nodded and disappeared up the stairs.
When Cloud showed up about an hour later, Billee was sound asleep. Tifa pulled him aside and, after yelling at him for leaving the bar unattended, told him about the night�s events. Cloud just scratched his head and nodded until Tifa had finished speaking.
�It certainly sounds strange,� he said finally. �Maybe we should check it out.�
�We don�t have much to go on,� Tifa argued. �If monster attacks begin increasing again or the WEAPON�s come back, Reeve will let us know and then we can check it out. It is probably just some mad scientist or something. Or possibly the Turks, although I doubt that they are capable of acting without orders.�
�Okay darling,� Cloud grabbed her and kissed her neck. Tifa pushed him away.
�Not tonight Cloud,� she said slowly. �I�m too tired. It�s late. Lets just go to bed.�
She looked around at the bar, then sighed and began to climb the stairs. After a moment�s hesitation, Cloud shrugged and followed her, switching the lights out as he went up.
Over in Junon, Reeve was just finishing up for the night when there was a frantic knocking on his office door. Without waiting for a reply, a young man, one of Reeve�s best soldiers, burst in.
�S�Sir,� he stammered. �Bad news sir. Very, very bad news.�
�Yes,� Reeve said slowly. �Go on.�
�One of our submarines was scanning underwater and it picked up the signal of some large creature.�
�So, what�s the problem?� Reeve said wearily. �There are probably a lot of large creatures living underwater.�
�Yes sir, I know that sir. But this one looked remarkably like Emerald WEAPON.�
�Are they sure about this?� Reeve asked, suddenly alert. The soldier nodded.
�Reasonably sir. They never saw it close up and it didn�t attack, but they got some underwater photographs. They�ll be ready tomorrow.�
�Okay, I�ll take a look at them tomorrow. You can go. Oh and tell the soldiers not to panic until we know for sure. I�ll deal with it.�
�Yes sir,� the young soldier retreated and Reeve slumped down at his desk. His hand knocked his PHS and he picked it up, trying to decide whether to call Cloud and tell him what the soldiers had seen. He decided against it.
�After all,� he told himself. �The soldiers could be mistaken. I�ll see the pictures myself first. I fought it, I should know.�
Having decided that, Reeve picked up his briefcase locked his office door behind him and set off to his apartment. The town was silent and dark as the people slept, having no idea of what was to come.