BOOK
1
A Childhood Promise
_____Barret strode into the bar in Sector 7.
Above the door was a sign saying '7th Heaven'. There was the sound of machine
gun fire seconds later and the previous occupants ran out into the dirty yard
in fright.
_____Cloud shook his head and shuffled over to
the bar. Barret was waiting outside for him, standing with his arms folded
in a menacing way.
_____"Ok! Go on ahead." he grunted. Cloud swung
open the doors and was immediately hit with the strong smell of alchohol.
The bar was full of smoke and there was an old radio playing soothing guitar
songs. There were three makeshift tables littered around the room, each with
a set of four small crates to sit on. An old rusty pinball machine was pushed
up against the right-hand wall. Its lights no longer flashed and the speakers
no longer played the repetitive arcade music or irritating beeps and buzzes
that they used to.
_____"Papa!" cried a child's voice. Cloud looked
down as a girl of about four years. She wore a dark pink dress with a large
orange bow at the neck. Her hair was brown and about shoulder-length.
_____The girl ran over to the back of the bar
and hid behind the old dirty refridgerator. A woman stepped out from behind
the bar. She had a pretty face and long brown hair tied into a ponytail which
nearly reached the backs of her knees. She wore a tight grey v-neck top and
a short black skirt with brown braces looping up over her shoulders. On her
hands with big studded gloves, probably for combat.
_____"Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud,
Marlene?" she woman asked the little girl. Marlene hid her face and shook
her head. The woman walked over to where Cloud was standing and Marlene followed,
hiding behind her legs.
_____"Welcome back, Cloud. Looks like everything
went well. Did you fight with Barret?" she asked.
_____"Not this time..." Cloud replied.
_____"Hmm, you've grown up." the woman said sadly.
"When you were little you used to get in fights at the drop of a hat." She
slowly looked down and spotted the flower in Cloud's belt. "A flower? How
nice! You never see them here in the city slums..."
_____"It's not for you, Tifa." Cloud said, handing
it to Marlene. The girl blushed and grabbed the flower.
_____"Sorry, Cloud. Marlene seems a little shy."
Tifa said. "Maybe I should fill the whole store with flowers..."
_____Cloud turned around. Biggs and Jessie were
calmly drinking after the mission and Wedge was stuffing himself full of Tifa's
wonderful cooking. He wandered over to the door and tried to exit when Barret
came thundering in, knocking him back.
_____"Papa, welcome home!" Marlene giggled as
the man lifted her up on to his shoulder. She was dwarved by such a muscle-bound
warrior.
_____"Huh? Where'd you get that flower?" Barret
asked.
_____"Cloud gave it to me." she replied.
_____"Yeah? Did you thank him?" the man asked.
Marlene paused, then said "Thank you, Cloud." Barret turned to face the members
of AVALANCHE.
_____"Get in here, fools!" he cried. "We're startin'
the meetin'!"
_____He walked over to the pinball machine and
hit the button on the side. With a mechanical rattle, the machine lowered
into the floor and revealed a secret elevator. Barret and Marlene went down
into the basement, and Biggs, Wedge and Jessie followed. Tifa stepped back
behind the bar. Cloud's eyes followed her around the room. They had grown
up together, and he still couldn't believe how independant she had become.
_____He shrugged the feeling off and followed
the others into the basement. In the secret room underground, Jessie was tapping
away at a computer, Biggs was resting in the corner and Wedge was eating as
usual. Barret stood in the corner, beating a punch bag repeatedly whilst Marlene
watched in admiration from the table next to him.
_____"Yo, Cloud!" Barret cried, grabbing the
man's attention. "There's somethin' I wanna ask ya. Was there anyone from
SOLDIER fighting us today?"
_____"None." Cloud replied. "If there was anyone
from SOLDIER you wouldn't be standing here now."
_____"Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you
was in SOLDIER." Barret chuckled. He turned back to the punch bag and began
to hit it again. "Don't forget your skinny ass's working for AVALANCHE now!
Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra."
_____"Staying with Shinra?" Cloud asked, disgusted.
"Look, I'm not part of that anymore. I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about
my money."
_____"Shucks... money..." Barret said gloomily.
Cloud turned to travel back up on the elevator but Tifa was standing in his
way. She must have sneaked in without him noticing.
_____"Let him go, Tifa." Barret laughed. "Looks
like he still misses the Shinra!"
_____"Shut up!" Cloud yelled, infuriated. "I
don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER! But don't get me wrong! I don't
care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!"
_____He stepped on to the elevator and pressed
the button, but Tifa hopped on too and they both travelled up together. It
let out a hiss as it reached the top and Cloud tried to leave the bar, but
Tifa grabbed his arm.
_____"Please join us, Cloud." she begged in her
sweetest voice. "The Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Someone
has to do something!"
_____"So let Barret and his buddies do something
about it." growled Cloud, pulling his arm free. He strode towards the doors.
_____"So you forgot our promise too..." he heard
from behind him. The words made him stop dead in his path. He turned slowly.
_____"...Promise?" he asked.
_____"So you DID forget." Tifa said sadly, lowering
her head as the corners of her mouth turned downwards. "Don't you remember
Cloud? It was seven years ago..."
_____Stars
twinkled in the moonlit night sky and shone down on the well in the center
of town. Two children met secretly that night. One male, one female.
_____Tifa sat down near Cloud, her soft turquoise
dress creasing as she did so.
_____"Sorry I'm late." she apologized. "You said
you wanted to talk to me about something?"
_____"Come this spring..." Cloud began, pausing
to make sure that what he was doing was the right thing to do. "I'm leaving
this town for Midgar. I'm going to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best
there is, just like Sephiroth."
_____"Sephiroth... the Great Sephiroth..." Tifa
said. Cloud stood up and scrambled to the top of the well. He settled down
again and gazed up at the stars.
_____"Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" she asked.
_____"...I probably won't be able to come back
to this town for a while." Cloud said, changing the subject.
_____"Will you be in the newspapers if you do
well?" the girl asked.
_____"I'll try." the boy grinned eagerly.
_____"Hey, let's make a promise!" Tifa said suddenly.
"Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind..... You come save me,
all right? Whenever I"m in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want
to at least experience that once."
_____"What?" Cloud said, confused.
_____"Come on! Promise me!" cried Tifa persuasively.
_____"All right," Cloud agreed. "I promise..."
_____"You
remember now?" Tifa asked, but Cloud shook his head.
_____"I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. I can't
keep the promise." he scowled.
_____"But you got your childhood dream. You joined
SOLDIER." she asked. Cloud looked down at his feet as a strange feeling swept
through his body.
_____"Wait
a sec big-time SOLDIER!" cried a voice. They looked round as Barret climbed
up the elevator shaft and into the bar. "Here's your pay! 1,500 gil!"
_____"This is my pay?" Cloud asked. "Don't make
me laugh! You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3,000."
_____"WHAT?!" Barret roared.
_____"Hey, it's OK." Tifa whispered to him. "We
really need help, right?"
_____"Urgh!" Barret replied. "That money's for
Marlene's schoolin'!"
_____He straightened his back and faced Cloud
again.
_____"2,000." he said. Cloud nodded.
_____"Thanks, Cloud." Tifa smiled warmly.