Second Chance

Companion?

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The city of Edge, Morning...

The city had undergone a few changes since the DeepGround incident. No one was allowed entry into Midgar's ruins unless permitted by the WRO, The World Regenesis Organization, to avoid contact with the high Mako levels in some areas. Aerith's church was probably the only place open for the public to visit. The building structures in Edge themselves have gone into renovation after taking some damage from the invasion. The city was finally as lively as it should be, especially at this time of year, For tomorrow marked the day that Meteor almost destroyed the planet.

At a bar far from the city's main road was 7th Heaven, home to Cloud, Tifa, and their little family. Around this time of day, the family gathers at the bar level of the building to have breakfast. Cloud was enjoying a nice cup of coffee on his rare day off while Marlene and Denzel chattered away at Tifa as she eagerly listened to them.

"Please, Tifa! Can we go?" Marlene begged the grown woman with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. "We won't stay out too late."

"Well, what do you think Cloud? Should we let them go with their friends during the MeteorFall festival?" Tifa tore her sights away from the children to face her blond boyfriend.

The Meteorfall festival was a memorial to honor the memories of all the victims and heroes that sacrificed themselves to achieve such a victory and a celebration for the people so they wouldn't forget the events that transpired years ago. To get the newer generation involved in the festivities, the adults would give out candy to the kids and share the story with them. In recent years, people, both young and old, began masquerading as real or fictional characters during the event. The town also pinched in the celebration by having carnival games in the city's square for all to enjoy.

While Cloud and his friends were of the many heroes the people are thankful for, the group preferred not to participate in the event. But since Marlene and Denzel weren't that well known and had nothing to do with the whole saving the world, there wasn't a reason to keep them away from all the fun.

"So long as they don't stay out late, I don't see why not. Denzel is old enough to look after Marlene on his own anyway." He answered while placing his cup of coffee on the table. At that moment, the two children tackled him off the chair in joy, giving his gleeful hug and smiles as a thank you.

Tifa hid her mouth, secretly giggling at the adorable sight in front of her. Sadly, it was worth a photograph that would upset her spiky hair boyfriend to do so. It was hard to believe that this was the same guy that was so consumed with depression that he would find any excuse to flee happy moments like these. However, he changed so much after the Geostigma incident. Now he can't wait for his day off to spend as much time with the kids as possible. Granted, he wasn't the same as the Cloud she knew when they were kids, but that was okay; as long as he was happy, she didn't mind the change.

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Lab???...

After hours of near endlessly exploring the computer's many files available, he found some answers to his questions. Unfortunately, Zack hasn't learned much about the experiments that involved him or his partner. The main reason for that was because they were password locked. He tried guessing the password at first, but it didn't work. Next, he looked through some documents and tried using their data as a password; However, it didn't work. He even used the word 'Hojo' as a password, but it still didn't work. So he gave up trying and left it alone, moving on to something else.

He did, however, learn where this place was. The lab was part of a facility named 'DeepGround,' one of many at Shinra authority. Oddly enough, he wasn't familiar with this DeepGround facility; this was the first time he had ever heard of Shinra having a facility like this one. In data, Deepground was a medical division for wounded SOLDIER members before the Wutai war. But afterward, it was converted to a human experimenting facility to make stronger SOLDIERs that were utterly loyal to the president of Shinra at the time. However, they almost destroyed the planet last year by unleashing the planet's last line of defense, Omega, but thankfully they were stopped by Cloud and his friends.

Cloud was a hero to the town, much to Zack's surprise. Going against THE Shinra Inc, fighting off a revived fallen hero, going against a rouge military that the 'good old professor' had control over after finally losing his marbles and that same military group AFTER they got rid of Hojo. Cloud sure kept busy after he was gone. His living legacy has made a name for himself, and he couldn't be any prouder.

With all that data searching done, he can now move on to more important things, leaving this mysterious place. But before he can do that, he needs to release the other test subject, hoping that the poor soul isn't dead. Then he needs to get out of these Mako-drenched clothes. Afterward, he needs to get supplies for the trip, Edge may be close, but it would still take some time to reach there. And lastly, escape the underground lab and up to the surface. Midgar and DeepGround shouldn't be a problem; the place was vacated long ago, so no one should stop them. But since the site has high Mako radiation in some areas, there will be monsters on the prowl, so caution is vital.

Now that he's got his list and a plan, it was time he set it in motion. He turned his attention to the dense Mako chamber behind him. Whoever was there must have suffered just as much as he did, being locked away in this cold lab, forgotten and lonely, like himself. He looked at the control panel in the chamber and studied the report about this unfortunate soul. This person is a Cetra, a half-breed of one anyway. This fact surprised him since Aerith was the only person he knew and was sure the last, as informed by Tseng of the Turks. Aerith, He can't help but get back to that subject. He kept wondering about how she's been, How beautiful she must have become, and how she most probably thought that he had left her, which was not valid. With her smarts and beauty, he was sure she had probably replaced him by now; after all, eight years is a ridiculously long time. He sighed as he thought more about her while his fingers typed in the code for the Mako draining process for the chamber.

Recalling the time he almost reached Midgar was unavoidable. With a Mako poisoned Cloud to look after, Shinra troops chase them left and right, thwacking Genesis' plans. And by the end, his efforts were wasted when he got killed outside the city's borders. He looked down at his bullet-torn and bloody uniform as memories filled his mind. His conscious stated over and over that he tasted death. Yet it didn't phase him so much as the regret and guilt he was feeling. All the people that suffered because he was blind to Shinra's secret plans, how he couldn't stop Sephiroth from going mad, how he couldn't keep his promise to Aerith, and how powerless he was to save Angeal. He could be optimistic all he wanted, but he could never escape the fact that he was a failure; Even the data stored in his Mako chamber's panel deemed him as such.

He exhaled one big sigh as he unconsciously confirmed the code. All he needed to do now was wait for the Mako chamber to drain out completely and maybe plan out what he should do when he reached Edge. He was given a second chance at living, so it would be best not to join any military group; he fought for the freedom to live free of war and its restraints. Maybe he should also consider settling down while he was at it, his parents would want it anyways, and he wasn't going to get any younger. And if he could, he would love it if he could see her again. But, unfortunately, although he wished he could at least explain all the crazy events to her and maybe even mend their relationship, he knew very well that the chances of seeing Aerith were slim.

At that moment, he realized that the control panel was beeping. He returned to reality and stared at the flashing screen under his hands. The device was signaling that the Mako chamber was fully drained and ready to be opened. As he looked up to the empty pod, his eyes went wide, filled with shock and surprise, as he finally realized who the other test subject was. He didn't know if he should feel blessed or horrified with what was right in front of him.