Rufus strode from the helicopter; the usual smirk present on his face. He felt nothing at the loss of his father. The interfering old man hadn't known how to really run the company. He had used money. Rufus knew better. Fear would control the people. They would accept what happened to them because they had no choice.

      He carried on walking form the heli-pad to his father's office. No, his office now. The smirk grew slightly broader at that thought. It faded as he approached the nearest guard.

      "What happened here?" he demanded.

      "We're not sure Sir. An unknown assailant entered the building and killed almost all of the inhabitants. From the wounds on the bodies, it looks like they were armed with a sword"

      "You said almost all. Who lived?"

      "Palmer and two research specimens"

      This caught Rufus' attention.

      "How did they survive?"

      "We're not sure. The security cameras distorted in the locations of the assailant. All we know from the tapes is that they were in the research chamber when the assailant approached, but then once the distortion cleared the chamber door had been opened and they were left unharmed"

      "Do we have them?"

      The soldier shook his head.

      "No sir. They took advantage of the situation and escaped the building. Uh...sir?"

      “Yes?”

      “Something else was taken from the labs. The door to another sample chamber was forced open”

      “Which one?”

      “I don’t know. Hojo refused to say”

      Rufus looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

      "Take me to Palmer"

      As Rufus walked through the door of the office a voice rang out:

      "Who's there?"

      "Rufus. You're employer"

      A head nervously appeared from behind the desk. Rufus closed the door behind him.

      Leaning forward, Rufus asked:

      “What happened?” 

      Palmer’s eyes widened.   

      “Sephiroth” he whispered.

      “What?” yelled Rufus. “Sephiroth is dead!”

      Palmer shook his head slowly.

      “No. He was here”

      “You saw him?”

      Palmer nodded.

      “What did he look like?”

      Palmer swallowed.

      “He was tall. He had silver hair and green eyes. And he had a sword”

      Rufus paused. That fitted the description of Sephiroth as he knew it.

      “And I heard his voice”

      “What did he say?”     

      Palmer winced, obviously not wanting to relive these memories.

      “Something about not letting us have the promised land”

      Rufus strode from the office leaving the terrified Palmer behind the desk. Could it really be Sephiroth? His demise was well known, although as far as the public were concerned he was reported missing.

      But why now? Why had he freed the research specimens? Was he too trying to find the Promised Land? Too many questions. The other sample taken from the lab... If Sephiroth had been here then it meant...

      Hojo scowled. He had lost three specimens, the best he had. The last Ancient, the last recorded member of that Red species, not to mention the last specimen, perhaps the rarest of all.

      “Hojo”

      He turned to see Rufus entering the room. His scowl did not diminish.

      “What do you want?”

      “I am the owner of this corporation now. You must treat me with the proper respect”

      Hojo sneered at this. He had no time for respect.

      “What was taken?”

      Hojo waved a hand towards the lab.

      “The Ancient and Red XIII”

      “What else?”

      Hojo hesitated.

      “What was the other sample?” said Rufus raising his voice.

      “Jenova” snapped Hojo.

      Rufus paused, his assumption confirmed. Sephiroth had been here. Sephiroth had taken what was left of his mother. Sephiroth was alive.

      “Do you think it was Sephiroth?”

      “You doubt it?” snapped Hojo. “No one else could have possibly taken out an entire building full of soldiers. As for the absence of Jenova..”

      “What about it?”

      “During some of the preliminary testing by Professor Gast, it was discovered that Jenova cells would migrate to try to form a whole. I suspect that this was why he took Jenova. It is trying to recombine and is pulling all those exposed to the cells to one place. I named it the Reunion Theory. It looks like it has begun.”

      Rufus considered this.

      “Then this means...”

      “All SOLDIERs are unusable. They will lose their mental state and be drawn towards the Jenova body.”

      Rufus cursed. His best people out of action.

      “What about the Promised Land?”     

      “What about it?”

      “According to Palmer, Sephiroth said he wasn’t going to let us have it”

      Hojo hissed.

      “He’s defending the Promised Land?”

      “I don’t have to tell you how important it is that we discover it’s location”

      “Of course. But it will be difficult if Sephiroth is willing to defend it”

      “Do you think that’s where he could be heading?”

      “It is plausible.”

      “This could be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for”

      “Yes. But he has a head start and we cannot use the SOLDIERs”

      “Couldn’t we just capture one and force him to lead us to Sephiroth?”

      Hojo shook his head.

      “If the Reunion theory is correct, the SOLDIERs will be unpredictable and violent if challenged. It would be best to avoid them at all costs”

      “It would be better then if Sephiroth was followed”

      “Yes”

      Rufus smirked.

      “I have just the people”

      Rufus slouched in his chair as the Turks filed into the office, Reno walking casually, his nightstick resting on one shoulder. Tseng moved quickly to the desk, standing quietly his hands clasped behind his back. Rude moved behind the others, standing still his sunglasses making his expression unreadable. Last came someone else. Rufus sat up as she walked up the stairs wearing the same dark blue suit that the others. She looked slightly nervous and stood close to Tseng.

      Tseng indicated the Turk next to him.     

      “This is Elena”

      Rufus nodded. The others needed no introduction. He knew them well. The Turks had been frequently used by his father. They were Shin Ra’s personal mercenaries. They would do anything for a price. Each had a speciality, a particular character trait. To be a member of the Turks you had to be good.

      “You all know me because of my father. I will tell you now, that even though he is dead, nothing will change. You are still under the command of this corporation”

      Rufus noticed a frown on Elena’s forehead at his casual discussion of his father’s death. Still something of a rookie then. She’ll learn. The others stood impassively.

      “I have a job for you. You are to track Sephiroth’s movements and follow him”

      Again Rufus noticed a reaction from Elena, but this time there was a look of shock on her face at the mention of Sephiroth. The others still stood impassively.

      “You are to follow Sephiroth closely, but do not engage him in combat. I require regular updates on his position and his heading. On this matter, speak only to me. You begin immediately. Dismissed.”

      Rufus leant back in his chair as the Turks filed silently out. He would have preferred SOLDIERs tracking Sephiroth, but the Turks were the next best thing. They would get the job done.

      “Well, looks like the President’s brat’s got us chasing ghosts”

      Elena turned to Reno shocked.   

      “What?”

      Reno sneered at her.

      “You seriously believe that Sephiroth is alive?”

      “The President believes so”

      “The President?” Reno sneered again. “He’s only the President by accident”

      “Knock it off,” snapped Tseng. “We’ve got a job to do”

      “Yeah, chasing figments of someone’s imagination”

      “We’re getting paid for this, that’s all that counts”

      Reno relented at this. They reached the elevators. Nodding to Reno and Rude, Tseng said, “You two go get ready. We leave in an hour”

      “How the hell do we know where to start looking?”

      “There have been some reports from citizens of someone matching Sephiroth’s description leaving the city and heading for the swamps”

      “Great” grumbled Reno as he and Rude stepped onto the elevator, “Make one mention of a supposedly dead person, and then the whole world thinks they’ve seen him”.

      As the elevator sped them away, Tseng turned to Elena.

      “You can’t keep getting shocked by everything anyone says.”     

      “I know,” insisted Elena. “It’s hard though”

      “No one said this job was easy. We only take the best. You must be strong. Don’t let Reno get to you. He says something, you’ve got to have a retort ready”     

      Elena nodded silently, her eyes looking down, avoiding Tseng’s.

      “Good. Get your stuff and meet me in the lobby in an hour”

      Tseng turned and moved off. Elena stood silently thinking for a moment. What was this she was feeling? She only felt it around Tseng. She liked him. He was certainly kinder to her then Reno..

      She shook her head clearing her thoughts, Tseng’s words coming back to her. She would be professional.

      “So tell me about yourself”

      “What do you mean?” said Nanaki turning his head to glance at the young woman walking beside him.

      “What’s Cosmo Canyon like? Why are you its guardian? How did the Shin Ra capture you?”

      Nanaki was silent for a moment before answering Aeris’ questions.

      “Cosmo Canyon has existed for centuries as a place of study. People from all over the world go there to study and learn more about the planet. It is a peaceful place.”

      “Do they know anything about the Ancients, the Cetra?”

      “Yes, there are books detailing everything that is known about your race. I suspect they contain the information that you wish to learn about your people”

      “How did you become the guardian?”

      Nanaki’s face fell slightly at this. Aeris grew worried.   

      “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on anything painful”

      “No it is okay”

      Nanaki composed himself.

      “I became the guardian of the canyon when my cowardly father abandoned his appointed position during an attack by the Gi tribe. He abandoned my mother and I to save himself,” said Nanaki now talking through gritted teeth.

      Aeris gasped slightly.

      “Nanaki, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was a painful subject for you.”

      Nanaki calmed slightly. “It is not your fault. I blame no one for this pain except my father.” He was silent for a moment. “The Shin Ra captured me through my own stupidity. It was one day over a year ago, I was patrolling the canyon. There had been reports of Shin Ra activity in the area. The Shin Ra are not welcome in the canyon because of the pain and damage they are causing to the planet. I went to investigate. What I did not know is that the Shin Ra team was sent to capture me. Reports had filtered back to the Shin Ra of my existence. They wanted to know how my species was capable of its immense life span. One half of their team distracted me, as the other attacked me from behind with tranquillisers. I have been in the labs since that time.”

      “Nanaki, I’m sorry”

      Nanaki shook his head. “It is not your fault”

      They walked on in silence again for a few minutes.

      “And you?”

      “I’m sorry?” Aeris blinked in surprise, Nanaki’s question catching her by surprise.

      “What of your past?”

      “My earliest memory is of a station in Midgar. My mother lay dying on the steps, and there was no one to help us. I couldn’t stop crying. Then someone came. Elmyra. My mother begged her to take care of me. They were her last words. I don’t know anything of my past before that time. Elmyra took me in and looked after me as if I was her own daughter”

      A faint smile touched Aeris’ lips.

      “She was so kind to me. But the happiness we shared couldn’t last. The Shin Ra found me. I think now, they must have had something to do with my mother’s death. They wanted me for their experiments. Whenever they tried to take me from home, I ran into the slums. I just kept running. They never found me when I ran. Sometimes they would hurt Elmyra. I found myself wanting to give up, surrendering just so they would stop hurting her. But Elmyra wouldn’t let me. She forced me to run every time, and even though it pained me as I did”

      Aeris was silent for a second.

      “I was seven when I discovered I could make flowers grow”

      This surprised Nanaki. It was well know that nothing would grow in Midgar.

      “Elmyra was shocked when I came home one day with flowers. I thought it would be a nice gesture, but she just stared at them in shock. She wanted to know where I got them. I took her to the church in Sector 5. I felt safe there, comforted by something. It was like the moment where we left the desert, but not as strong. There was a specific place, beside the altar where the flowers would grow. I would spend hours in the church, sometimes forgetting that I was in Midgar. But I always found myself back in the church, in the slums.

      “I began selling flowers. Most people ignored me. They didn’t want them. They were too busy with their own pain and misery. People couldn’t believe that the flowers were real. When I was 17 I met him. I was selling flowers. He saved me.”

      Nanaki looked at Aeris again. There was a wistful expression on her face. And something else...pain?

      “His name was Zack. A SOLDIER, 1^st class. Only 16. He walked me home safely that day. He bought one of my flowers. He was so kind to me. We had a sort of romance. Nothing serious. He would come to see me everyday. As time went on, I found myself spending the whole day just waiting for him to arrive. He made me so happy. I think..”

      Aeris paused for a second.

      “I think I fell in love with him. But before our relationship could grow he was ordered on a mission to somewhere far away. That was 5 years ago. I said goodbye to him at the same station where my mother died. He promised he’d be back; the mission would only take a week at longest. I watched him leave on the train, my eyes full of tears. I spent the next week barely sleeping, all the time just waiting for time to pass. But he never came back. I waited at the station, but he never came. For a month I visited the station, hoping, praying that one day he’d be there to greet me. But he never was.”

      The wistful expression on Aeris’ face had gone. There was only pain now.

      “I’ve waited since then. I don’t go to the station anymore. I still sold flowers on the streets, hoping one day he would step out from the crowd to buy a flower from me”

      Tears had welled up in Aeris’ eyes, streaming down her cheeks. She glanced at Nanaki, a small smile on her lips.

      “I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I thought about any of this”

      Nanaki shook his head.

      “It’s okay”

      They carried on walking, each concerned with their own thoughts.

Author’s notes:      Minor changes here. This chapter comes across as an attempt to write the stuff that didn’t appear in the game (Rufus hiring the Turks etc.) Still it was fun writing. Aeris past gets included here, because I felt it needed to be included even though everyone knows it. Nanaki’s might seem a bit short, but then Nanaki isn’t exactly the most vocal of the characters (Though he does rank sufficiently high enough above Vincent). Aeris’ went on for a long time I know (I was listening to her theme as I wrote it). The Turks get their first major scene here. I tried to stay faithful to the game with their characterisations (Rude’s is quite easy – I’ve just got him saying nothing). Reno’s cocky, Tseng’s pretty cool, and Elena’s a bit nervous (This’ll change soon, to make her seem more like she does in the game (She has only just joined the organisation after all)). For the next part...well some more changes but still nothing major for a while.

Copyright:        Squaresoft: DON’T SUE! DON’T SUE! You own everyone! And the story (And very resilient to changes it is too).