Final Fantasy VII: The Battle for the Planet

_____The evening breeze swept through their hair as they sat on the roof of the church, calmly catching their breath. It had been far too close for comfort.
_____"They're looking for me again..." Aeris said.
_____"You mean this has happened before?" Cloud asked.
_____"...Yes." Aeris replied. Cloud looked up at the smouldering ruins of Mako Reactor #5 high above them.
_____"They're the Turks." he said. "The Turks are an organization in Shinra. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER. They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder... you know."
_____He looked back down at Aeris, who had drawn her legs up and was holding them with her arms.
_____"But why are they after you?" he asked.
_____"I guess they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!" Aeris laughed.
_____"Maybe you do." Cloud said.
_____"I don't know," Aeris said softly. "But I don't want to be caught by those people. Let's go!"
_____They hopped to their feet and jumped from the roof to a pile of debris and litter. Cloud darted off as fast as he could, making sure he got away from the Turks. Then he realised why he was actually running when the girl called out to him.
_____"Wait! Wait I said!" Aeris cried. Cloud stopped and turned around. He was quite a way ahead of the girl, and watched as she slowly hopped from one mound to the next until she reached him, puffing and panting.
_____"Funny," Cloud said. "I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER..."
_____"Oh, you're terrible!" Aeris laughed, playfully pushing Cloud away. She stopped and straightened up, gazing into Cloud's eyes. "Hey Cloud, were you ever in SOLDIER?" she asked.
_____"I used to be." Cloud nodded. "How did you guess?"
_____"Your eyes." Aeris replied. "They have a strange glow."
_____"That's the sign of those who have been infused with Mako." Cloud explained. "It's a sign of SOLDIER. But... how did you know that?"
_____"Oh, it's nothing." Aeris said. "Come on, bodyguard! Let's go!"

_____They arrived at Aeris' beatiful house after about five minutes of travelling through the dirty slums. Compared to the other residences, it looked like a palace fit for a king. The garden was blossoming with trees and flowers and there must have been a hole in the plate above the house, as a bright beam of sunlight shone through and highlighted the building.

_____Aeris reached forward and opened the front door. As Cloud stepped inside he could feel a strong smell of chocobo soup - a delicious northern dish from the Icicle region of the world. It had warmed up the stomachs of many travellers who had conquered the giant snow fields and were attempting to conquer the Great Glacier. Of course, none had returned, and nobody knew where they were.

_____"I'm home, mom." Aeris called. Her voice echoed and bounced off the rounded walls of the small house and a small woman wearing a green dress and a white apron emerged from the kitchen. Her brown hair was tied back into a short ponytail. Elmyra was a warm-hearted woman who couldn't help but worry about the safety of others.
_____"This is Cloud, my bodyguard." Aeris explained.
_____"Bodyguard?!" Elmyra gasped. "You mean you were followed again? Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
_____"I'm all right." Aeris nodded. "I had Cloud with me."
_____"Thank you, Cloud." Elmyra smiled and walked back into the kitchen.
_____"So what are you going to do now?" Aeris asked Cloud. He paused to think about what he should do. The mission was to destroy the reactor and then probably return to Sector 7, so that would probably be where Barret and Tifa were.
_____"Is Sector 7 far from here?" he asked. "I want to go to Tifa's bar."
_____"Is Tifa... a girl?" Aeris probed.
_____"Yeah." Cloud replied, unsure why the girl cared.
_____"A girl... friend?" she questioned further.
_____"Girlfriend?" Cloud verified, then stopped to think again. Could Tifa be called his girlfriend? They certainly were very good friends, but they had never taken that next step. "No." he finally answered. Aeris nodded.
_____"Let's see, Sector 7?" she pondered. "I'll show you the way. Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7!"
_____Elmyra showed herself again, this time with a saucepan full of soup in her hand.
_____"I give up, Aeris." she sighed. "Once you've made up your mind, you never listen. But why not go tomorrow? It's getting late now..."
_____"Yeah, you're right, mom." Aeris agreed.
_____"Good, please go and make the bed." her mother requested, knowing that she would do as she said without question. Aeris headed upstairs and Elmyra turned to Cloud.
_____"That glow in your eyes..." she said. "You're from SOLDIER, right?"
_____"I used to be." Cloud explained.
_____"Cloud, please leave here tonight." Elmyra asked. "Without telling Aeris. Would you do that?"
_____He nodded and she smiled as if to thank him and went back to her cooking. Cloud walked up the creaky staircase to the first floor. Aeris was waiting there for him.
_____"To get to Sector 7," she started. "You need to go through Sector 6. It's a little dangerous, so you should get some rest here tonight."
_____Cloud made his way to the guest bedroom and opened the door.
_____"Good night, Cloud." Aeris said and she went downstairs. He stepped inside and closed the door. It was a small, cosy room. The bed was very soft and there was a tiny window on the far wall.

_____He opened his eyes. He was in Aeris' house again. Some strange dream...

_____Ignoring the dream, he crept past Aeris' bedroom and downstairs. The front door was unlocked - a great risk in the slums of Midgar - so he pushed it open and stepped outside. It was the crack of dawn, and dew was still hanging freshly from the leaves of their garden like sleeping bats. Most of Midgar was asleep except for Shinra employees who had been working through the night to meet important deadlines.

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_____As he walked briskly through the slums, he heard a faint muttering and moaning. It was echoing from somewhere nearby. He looked around and spotted a horizontal pipe on the western side of the yard. He crept over and climbed inside. There were wooden shelves nailed to the sides of the pipe, a dirty matress laid across the floor. A young man was sitting on the floor. He looked a couple of years older than Cloud. His head was shaking in uncontrollable spasms and he was drooling. On his arm was a tattoo of the number 2*. It seemed strange that someone incapable of even speaking had a tattoo.
_____"Ooooh..... aaagghhh..." he wheezed. "Aaah... Gghhraaaaa...."
_____Cloud cautiously backed out of the pipe and made his way to the entrance to Sector 6.

_____To his surprise, Aeris was waiting for him in the jagged archway to the next sector.
_____"You're up bright and early." she grinned.
_____"How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" Cloud asked rhetorically.
_____"You have to go through the slum in Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven." she explained, ignoring Cloud. "Come on, I'll take you there."
_____She took him by the wrist and they walked into the next sector. There was a long road which had been torn to pieces, probably by rioters or rebels. Chunks of debris lay all around, and it took quite some time to scramble across the heaps of rubbish.
_____Eventually they reached a dirty playground. There was a set of swings, gently moving in the wind. A roundabout slowly turned as if a child had been playing on it only seconds ago. There was a slide built on to the side of a concrete moogle head with cartoon features. Beyond the playground equipment was a path leading off to the right and a pair of huge iron gates.
_____"That's the gate to Sector 7." Aeris explained.
_____"Thanks." Cloud said. "I guess this is good bye. Shall I see you home?"
_____"Isn't that a little out of the way?" she asked.
_____"I guess..." Cloud responded. Aeris slipped her hands behind her back.
_____"Let's take a break." she suggested and climbed on top of the dome-shaped moogle slide. Cloud followed and they sat down next to each other, staring back at the ruined road.
_____"What rank were you?" Aeris asked out of the blue.
_____"Rank?" Cloud asked, confused.
_____"You know, in SOLDIER." she said.
_____"Oh, I was..."

_____"First Class." he replied.
_____"Just the same as him..." Aeris said, lowering her head.
_____"The same as who?" Cloud asked.
_____"My first boyfriend." she replied.
_____"I probably knew him." he said. "What was his name?"
_____Aeris shook her head and said "It really doesn't matter."

_____With a low rumble, the gates behind them rolled open to reveal a decorated carriage drawn by a chocobo - a large flightless yellow bird. A man wearing a round sun hat sat at the front, holding the chocobo's reins. As it scurried through the gateway and turned to go down the path, Cloud noticed a woman standing in the back. She was wearing a short, light blue silk dress and her hair was brown and long.
_____"Huh?" he cried, jumping to his feet. "Hey, back there... Tifa?!"
_____"That girl in the cart was Tifa?" Aeris asked as the carriage disappeared behind a pile of scrap metal. "Where was she going? She looked kind of odd..."
_____Aeris hopped down off the slide and began to run after the carriage. Cloud shouted to stop her, but she didn't listen. He shook his head and chased after her.