Later that night, after the sky had grown dark, we made camp in a small stand of dry, leafless trees a short distance from the tracks. While I helped Cloud and Barret get the tents up with Yuffie, Aerith and Tifa worked on dinner, and soon, the aromas of cooking food filled the air. Red laid down by the fire and watched all the activity, his tail swishing around him, and overhead, the stars came out one by one. Although it was still winter—early February, by my guess—it was fairly warm here, likely due to how dry and barren the land was.
Things with everyone were more relaxed than they'd been in days, and as we all talked and ate together, I was able to put aside my worries and fears about Corel for a while. Cloud sat directly across from me on the other side of the fire, his gorgeous baby blues reflecting the light. It made my heart flutter to see him gazing at me, and I wished I could've snuggled up to him. But for now, at least, I needed to keep my distance. It was just too easy for me to forget about and ignore my issues when I was close to him. And I couldn't afford that now.
"More, Jessie?" Aerith asked, offering me a plate.
I smiled and shook my head. "I'm full, thanks. It was great, though. And I'll return the favor next time we stock up. Pizza for everyone! Oh, and that reminds me, you've got a birthday coming up real soon, right? February 7, I think. Only a few days away!"
Tifa blinked. "What? She does?"
"I'd almost forgotten..." Aerith giggled.
"There's gotta be something we can do to celebrate," Tifa said. "We did it for Barret back at Fort Condor, so it's only fair you get your turn, too, Aerith. We just need to figure out how..."
I snapped my finger. "The Gold Saucer! Johnny mentioned it while he was driving us to the mountains, remember?"
"Right!" Tifa replied. "And we can get there from Corel."
"Some kind of ropeway, whatever that is," I agreed. Then I glanced at the others. "Johnny said it's the fastest way south from there, so it's a good bet Sephiroth'll probably go that way, too."
Cloud nodded. "Makes sense. What's the Gold Saucer?"
"It's this big amusement park," I explained. "Johnny was telling Tifa and I how he wanted to take Sandra there someday."
Aerith's eyes widened. "A park? Like rides and stuff?"
I draped an arm around her shoulder and grinned. "Yep! And we'll probably get there just in time for your birthday!"
"Oh, that sounds fun!" she laughed.
"Long as we don't forget 'bout Sephiroth," Barret said.
Cloud gazed into the fire. "We won't."
"Better not," Barret said. Then he sighed. "I guess it's time I told ya 'bout Corel. My hometown. Used to be 'round here."
"Used to be?" Red asked.
Barret nodded. "Ain't here no more. It burned down four years ago. An' it's all my fault. Corel's always been a mining town, an' I used to be the foreman. Worked underground since I was jus' a kid. The town was dusty an' poor, real small, but it was home."
"You miss it, don't you?" Aerith murmured.
"Yeah," he agreed. "How it used to be. Almost afraid to see what it's like now, though. But anyway, Shinra came callin' 'cause they wanted to build that metal monstrosity we saw back in the valley today. Had us a town meetin' that night to discuss it. An' that was the first time I'd ever heard 'bout those damn mako reactors."
Barret went on. "Almost all of us were in favor of it, even me. Even with how rich the mines were, the work was hard an' took its toll on us. My wife, Myrna... she was tough and helped me all the time, but bein' underground was eatin' away at her health."
"I loved her an' didn't want her to suffer no more, so when I heard 'bout this fancy new power plant that Shinra was plannin' to build near our town, I was all for it," he explained. "The only one who was against the idea was Dyne, my partner an' best friend."'
"Why?" Tifa wondered.
Barret gazed into the fire. "The coal wasn't jus' our livelihood, Tifa. It was our way of life an' had been that way for generations. Our fathers an' forefathers risked their lives for it. An' Dyne, well... he thought that we shouldn't have given all that up even though no one was really usin' coal anymore by then. Jus' how the times were."
Cloud nodded. "Shinra was putting up reactors all over back then. Heard a bit about it while I was still there."
"Right," Barret said. "Dyne felt the same way I did—his wife wasn't in the best health, either, an' he had a baby girl—but he also had more reasons to not want Shinra anywhere near Corel. He didn't tell nobody but me what they were, though. I didn't understand it much back then, but now... I think it's probably best that I tell ya."
"What do you mean?" Aerith asked.
He looked at her. "Dyne's daughter... that was Marlene."
"What...?" she and I gasped.
"An' there's more," Barret continued. "Dyne wouldn't tell me much, but he said his wife was... different. Eleanor could hear things now an' then in her mind. Voices, you know? She was real good at growin' stuff, too. Her flower garden was the prettiest you ever saw. An' she also had a way of mendin' hurts. Sound familiar to ya?"
Aerith's eyes widened. "Are you saying... she was like me?"
"An Ancient?" Tifa breathed.
My jaw dropped. "Then that would mean..."
"Marlene's one, too," Cloud finished the thought. "A Cetra, same as Aerith. No wonder Dyne didn't want Shinra around."
"Exactly," Barret agreed.
Aerith glanced at him. "You know, Barret, I'm not really surprised, now that I think about it. Marlene took to me really fast when I went to get her in the bar before the plate came down. At the time, I thought it was just that she was worried for you and scared what with all that was going on then, but now I'm not so sure..."
Tifa nodded. "I don't think she realizes it yet, but maybe she knew she could trust you, that you and her were the same. When we were all still at your house back in the slums, did you ever sense anything about her, Aerith? That she was like you, part Ancient?"
"Not for certain, but there was one thing," Aerith replied. "Marlene was having some trouble going to sleep one night—this was only a day or two after we'd escaped from Shinra, and Jessie was still really banged up and hadn't quite made it out of bed yet."
"I was a pretty sorry sight, wasn't I?" I smirked.
Aerith laughed. "Kinda, but we were all just so happy that you were alive. Anyway, Marlene had slipped downstairs late that night while the rest of us were sleeping and had hidden in the kitchen. I'd gotten up to get myself a drink and had found her there. I think she was scared that even though we were all fine, she'd still lose us somehow. She'd already just lost her home, and she was crying."
"She was?" Barret blinked. "She never told me..."
"Yeah. I went to her and just held her for while. It helped calm her down, but as I knelt with her, I thought I felt something for a moment. Something just... clicked between us. I don't know how else to explain it. A connection, like we were on the same wavelength. She reached out to me with her thoughts the same way I did when I searched for Jessie's spirit in the Shinra Building to check on her."
Tifa stared at her. "Did you know then... what she was?"
"No," she said. "But I wondered."
"So... Dyne was the only one opposed to the reactor?" Cloud said, bringing us back to what had happened to Corel.
Barret sighed. "Yeah... that is, 'till I finally convinced him. As close as me an' him were, I was the only one he'd listen to. That bitch Scarlet was goin' on 'bout how much better things would be an' made all these lyin' promises that Shinra would guarantee our livelihood. Buncha lies, but we didn't see that then. We all thought it'd bring us an easier life. If I'd only known... things mighta been different."
At the mention of Scarlet, I felt my blood boil, and my hand closed into a fist almost on its own as I thought about what she'd done not just to me but also to Barret, Marlene, their families, and so many others. It gnawed relentlessly at my heart. They'd all suffered so much because of me, because I'd been too innocent and gullible back then to catch on to Scarlet's twisted game until it was too late.
"So what happened?" Tifa asked.
"It was while Dyne an' I were outta town," Barret replied. "We'd left for a few days to check out a new shaft our crew had opened just down the ridge an' were on our way home. But it wasn't there no more. Them Shinra assholes burnt it to the ground. The whole town. Everyone was gone... my wife, my relatives, my friends... everyone."
Cloud frowned. "Shinra troops? Why?"
Barret clenched his fist. "There was an explosion up at the reactor, caused a lotta damage an' near totaled the place. Shinra blamed it on us an' took out our town in response. Though that ain't what got reported on their lyin' ass news. Somethin' 'bout terrorists on the rampage, that Shinra had tried to stop 'em but was too late."
"That's terrible!" Tifa gasped.
It was, and I remembered it all too well, seeing the footage that day when I'd still been working at Shinra. How it had hit me all of a sudden that the very same weapons I'd enhanced and provided to those troops for testing against monsters up in the mountains could've been used to destroy Corel. It had devastated me to realize it, and I'd fled upstairs to the storage rooms on the 63rd floor to be alone, cry, and somehow deal with the cold reality of what had happened. Reeve had told me it wasn't my fault, but it was still hard for me to believe it.
"S'pose that's true enough," Barret sighed. "I can still see the flames an' smell the smoke in the air. But more than Shinra, I couldn't forgive myself. Never shoulda gone along with buildin' that damn reactor. If I'd sided with Dyne an' listened to him, then maybe..."
Cloud shook his head. "Shinra still would've torched the town one way or another. Just remember Sector 7. Didn't matter to them that the place was home to thousands of people, including a bunch of their own employees. They just destroyed it anyway."
"We all believed Shinra's promises back then," Tifa added. "All of us got fooled. So don't blame yourself, Barret."
He nodded. "Yeah... thanks, guys. But anyway, that's why I always get so pissed off at Shinra. Not only did they take advantage of me, but I also lost my wife, Myrna. We was tryin' for a baby, too, but never had any luck. I got Marlene now, at least—found her hidden in the ruins of her house after it was all over and I'd recovered from... well, that part's gonna hafta wait. Don't wanna go into it yet."
Aerith gently took his shoulder. "It's alright. Seems like everything Shinra does makes everyone miserable, doesn't it?"
"That it does," Barret agreed.
After he stood up and went into his tent, Tifa sighed and looked at us. "I never knew. Barret never said a word..."
Cloud glanced at me. "Did you?"
"I..." I swallowed, not sure how to respond. "Not really, but... after he told me he came from Corel, I... I suspected. But I didn't know any of the details until today. Barret lost everything..."
"He shouldn't have trusted Shinra," Yuffie grimaced. "Same as you, Jessie. Never believe anything those guys say!"
"Yeah..." I murmured.
She stood up and yawned. "Well, that's it for me. I'm turning in for the night. I'll be in our tent, ladies. See ya!"
"I believe I'll turn in as well," Red added. "Goodnight."
While Yuffie went into the tent she was sharing with me, Tifa, and Aerith, Red curled up in his spot by the fire and fell asleep. I gazed into the flames, thinking about everything Barret had said. And I still didn't know how to tell him what I'd done, that I was sorry for everything my mistakes had cost him. I think Aerith saw something of it in my eyes as we sat there, because she nodded to Tifa after a moment before looking meaningfully over at Cloud. He got the hint.
"Guess I'd better get some rest, too," he said, his eyes meeting mine. "One of you'll take the first watch?"
"I will," I told him.
Cloud didn't seem surprised. "Okay. Night, Jessie."
"Night, Cloud," I smiled.
After telling Aerith and Tifa goodnight as well, he slipped into the tent he was sharing with Barret, leaving the three of us alone. Although I was tired from the long day of traveling and fighting, I wasn't ready to sleep just yet. And I had a hunch that my friends weren't, either. Aerith moved to sit on my left while Tifa scooted a little closer on my right. It seemed they had put the pieces together faster than I'd thought, though I suppose it wasn't surprising. They knew me well.
"So that's what you've been blaming yourself for, Jessie," Aerith said after a while. "What happened to Barret."
I nodded. "Guess you figured it out, huh?"
Tifa took my hand. "Seems that way, but... why? You've never been here and didn't have anything to do with it."
"That's... not entirely true," I admitted.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
I realized then that even though I still couldn't tell Barret yet about what I'd done, I could tell Aerith and Tifa. And I thought that maybe it might help. So after taking a deep breath, I shared with my two friends what I'd kept so close to my heart for four years now. I told them about what it was like working under Scarlet and how terrible she'd been, the way she'd tried to turn me into another version of her. I'd talked a little about it before back at Aerith's house but hadn't said much at the time. I just hadn't wanted to go too deeply into it.
I did now, though. I opened up to Aerith and Tifa about Corel and how I'd not only enhanced the weapons used to destroy it but had also provided the authorization needed to arm the troops with them in the first place. It had been part of my job as Scarlet's assistant, although I'd been told—and had clearly spelled out in the forms—that the powerful guns and explosives were only to have been used for testing up here in the mountains against monsters. I hadn't found out that my orders had been countermanded until it was too late.
"It's terrible, but... you're being too hard on yourself, Jessie," Aerith said once I'd finished. "You couldn't have known."
"But I should have," I sighed.
Tifa shook her head. "How? Like I told Barret, Shinra fooled us all back then. You didn't know Scarlet would do what she did. And look at how young you were then. Even though you held a really high position at Shinra, you were still only sixteen. And you probably grew up being told all the typical lines about the company, so how could you have had any idea then what they were really like?"
"I guess that's true, and... my mom and Reeve both warned me not to trust Scarlet. But I didn't listen. I wanna believe that what happened here wasn't my fault, but it's hard, you know?"
Aerith nodded. "I do, Jessie. And I think it's time for you to forgive yourself for what you think you did."
"Couldn't hurt to give it a try," Tifa added.
"Try...?" I wondered, remembering what my other self had said to me in that strange, mysterious dream I'd had back in Costa del Sol. "To forgive myself? I will, but... before I can do that, I've gotta come clean about this to Barret, and tell him what I did."
Aerith laid a hand on my shoulder. "Want us to be there?"
"Thanks, but... I think I need to do this alone," I decided. "As soon as I get a chance. I'm a little scared that he'll go off on me, though, like he did when he found out I was in Shinra."
"If he does, I'll kick his ass," Tifa promised. "And you know Cloud, he won't let him pull that bullshit on you again. But something tells me you won't have to worry about that, Jessie."
I smiled. "I hope so. In the meantime, you two go on and get some sleep, okay? I've got a lot of thinking to do."
After wishing me goodnight, Aerith and Tifa went into our tent to rest. I sat outside for a while alone, gazing up at the stars. Telling Barret the truth about my part in what had happened to Corel and to him and Marlene wasn't gonna be easy, but after telling Aerith and Tifa about it, I felt for the first time like I could actually pull it off.
— — — — — — —
The next day after a quick breakfast, we set out again and carefully made our way along the tracks as they wound through the mountains. A few monsters crossed our path now and then—more search crowns, mostly, but also some needle kisses another cockatrice—but not in the numbers we'd seen yesterday at the reactor, and so we took them down without any problems as we traveled south.
Jessie walked mostly with Aerith and Tifa, but every now and then she'd move up beside me for a bit, although she wouldn't hold my hand like she'd done at the beach that night in Costa del Sol. I was surprised to find that I missed it, just as I missed having her close and the feel of her lips on mine. But so did she—I saw it clearly in her eyes every time she looked at me—and while I wished I could help her with whatever it was she was trying to deal with, she'd made her choice. But I'd be there for her when and if she ever needed me.
Early in the afternoon, we came to a wide ravine that must've been almost half a mile across and over a hundred feet deep. A small stream that must've once been a large river flowed at the bottom of it, drained by the mako and how dry and barren it had made the land. Most of the trees we'd seen had been leafless, and there hadn't been very many wild animals, either. Just a few small, tough shrubs along the slopes. An old but sturdy bridge, tall and made of wooden beams, spanned the ravine, and the train tracks continued across it.
"So what do you think, Cloud?" Jessie asked.
I folded my arms in front of me as we stood by the edge. "Seems to be solid enough. Better take it slow just to be safe, though. Barret, how long's this bridge been around? Do you know?"
He scratched his head. "Long as I can remember, merc. Trains used to bring coal in from the mines up here ever since I was a kid. But after Shinra came 'round, they used 'em to transport supplies for the reactor. Don't look like anyone uses 'em now, though."
"Since the town was destroyed..." Tifa murmured.
"Seems that way," Barret agreed.
I looked at him and the others for a moment. "It should take about twenty minutes to cross to the other side, so let's mosey. And be sure to watch your step, everyone. It's a pretty long fall."
"Don't remind me..." Barret shuddered.
Then I remembered how nervous he'd been while we'd climbed up the ruins of Sector 7 to get to the plate in Midgar. Yuffie didn't look too happy about it, either, but there wasn't anything we could do. This was our only way forward. Stepping carefully onto the wooden planks, I led the others out onto the bridge. It was just a flat span supported by long, crisscrossing beams and didn't have any guardrails, so we stayed in the middle as much as possible. A light breeze ruffled our clothes while we walked slowly but steadily across the bridge.
We were about halfway across when one of the planks underneath my feet suddenly split when I stepped on it. I teetered on the edge for a moment as I tried to balance myself, but then a second plank gave way and I stared to fall with a startled shout. Jessie was fast, though, hitting her right glove switch, darting up from where she'd been trailing a little behind me, and catching my arm by the wrist before I'd gotten very far. I looked up to see her smirking down at me.
"Miss a step?" Jessie teased.
I brushed myself off after she and Barret hauled me back up to the tracks. "Guess I did. Nice catch, Jessie."
She chuckled. "Guess I got to be your hero again."
"Fine by me," I said, grinning slightly.
It was good to see a bit of her old self returning, although I knew it would likely fade again once we made it to Corel. But it was there now, a reminder of the feisty, outgoing girl who had pursued me so intently and had gleefully ripped through my tough shell to reach my heart and make it her own. Although it had only been a few days since Jessie had put our relationship on hold, I already missed that side of her, even the way she loved to keep me off balance with her flirting. Maybe, once she was ready to be close again, I'd do it to her for once.
"Hey, look at this!" Tifa called.
She was just ahead of us, holding a bright green materia orb. Yuffie eyed it eagerly. "Materia! Where'd you find it?"
Tifa fit it into the empty slot on her mythril armlet. "Saw it wedged in between two of the planks right by the edge. I guess it must've fallen off one of the Shinra supply trains when they were still running and no one ever realized it. Works out for us, though."
"What kind is it?" Aerith wondered.
Tifa gazed at it for a moment. "Transform. Seems it has two spells, one that can shrink or unshrink your target, and the other can actually turn it into a frog! You can also restore anyone who gets transformed. I think it might just come in handy sometime."
Aerith laughed. "Sounds like fun!"
"Not for me," Yuffie griped. "I'm already short enough as it is."
We all got moving again and made it the rest of the way across the bridge without a problem. From there, the tracks wound through more rocky slopes as the mountain paths descended downward. After about half an hour of walking, we came to a pair of small drawbridges where the two sets of tracks split. The bridge ahead of us had been pulled up, but the one to its left was down and we could cross it. But past it, as the tracks curved around the slope, there was section that had fallen away. It was too big a gap for even Red to jump.
"Any ideas?" Tifa asked.
Aerith gazed across the raised bridge. "This track goes all the way down, but we'll need to lower the bridge first. Otherwise we'll be stuck out here. How are we gonna do that, though?"
Red padded forward a few steps. "There is a shack by the other set of tracks. It must hold the controlling mechanism for the bridge. A few of us can head over there and activate it."
"In the meantime, we'll take a breather here," Tifa suggested.
Yuffie nodded. "Seconded. I'm pooped!"
"Be right back," I said.
Red fell in beside me. "I'll accompany you, Cloud."
"Might as well go, too," Barret shrugged.
So the three of us headed along the tracks to our left while the girls stayed behind to rest and watch. It didn't take too long for us to make it to the bridge, and as we walked across it, I glanced over at the girls and saw Jessie, Aerith, and Tifa all waving at me.
"You're doing good, SOLDIER!" Jessie smirked.
Aerith did a little bounce and grinned. "Good luck, Cloud!"
Tifa laughed. "Go, Cloud!"
We made it to the shack only a minute later. It was a pretty tight fit, but somehow the three of us got inside long enough for me to find the control switch on a small, battered old panel and turn it on. Then there was a mechanical humming sound as the second bridge lowered firmly into place with a loud clang. We left the shack and hurried back across the first bridge and down to where we'd left the girls, then followed the four of them across the second bridge. Once we reached the other side, we all moved on down the tracks together.
They wound steadily down the slope, and after walking for maybe ten more minutes or so, we stopped for lunch. We sat off to one side of the tracks amidst clusters of rocks and tall, tough shrubs and dug in, all of us hungry after all the walking we'd done so far today. As we ate and I listened to the others talk, I gradually become aware there were birds chirping from somewhere nearby. It was the first sound of wildlife that we'd heard all day in this mostly barren place.
I glanced curiously at the others. "You guys hear that?"
Aerith smiled. "Yeah. Birds! This region's pretty dry, but I do sense some animal life around. Not nearly as much as there used be, I'm sure. But it always finds a way, Cloud. No matter what."
"They sound pretty close," Jessie said, looking around.
"Could be," Aerith nodded as she finished up her food. "Wanna go take a quick look, Jessie? It'll be fun!"
Jessie giggled. "Sure, but... let's take Cloud with us."
"Huh?" I blinked.
"It'll do you good!" she smirked, but I could hear the slight tremor in her voice and knew why she was trying to rope me into this. "Better have our bodyguard come along, just in case."
I shrugged and stood up. "Guess I can do that."
"Awesome!" Jessie grinned.
As she and Aerith brushed themselves off and joined me, I glanced at Tifa for a moment, my gaze asking the unspoken question. She gave me a slight nod when our eyes met, but that was all the confirmation I needed. She'd seen it, too. I thought of the private talk we'd had back in Lower Junon over a week ago and knew that if I hadn't agreed to go on this little bird hunt, Jessie would've asked someone else to go instead or changed her mind about it and not gone at all. Whatever it took for her to make sure she wasn't alone with Aerith.
"Be back soon, guys," I said.
The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere above us, so the three of us starting climbing up the ridge above where we'd been taking our break. The chirping grew louder as we went further, and before too long, we found the source. There was a nest tucked in the branches of a thick, leafy shrub, and inside it were maybe four or five hungry chicks, just hatched and with pieces of their eggs laying all around them. Jessie and Aerith both gushed over them in delight.
"Oh, they are so cute!" Jessie squealed, clasping her hands together. "Totally adorable! Don't you think so, Cloud?"
I scratched my head. "I guess so..."
Aerith giggled. "They sure are. So beautiful!"
"Hey, look..." I said.
There were a dozen bundles of phoenix down woven into the nest, probably scavenged by the mother bird from the supply crates that had been left open and outside by the shack near the bridge. I hadn't really seen anything in them myself that would be useful while I'd been there, but the phoenix down might come in handy if I could get it free of the nest. It didn't look like it'd be too hard to do.
Jessie nodded. "Phoenix down. I see it, Cloud. But..."
"It's keeping the chicks warm," Aerith noticed. "So let's just leave it alone, okay? We can always buy some later."
"Definitely," Jessie agreed.
I gazed at the chicks chirping amidst those vibrant, reddish-orange feathers a little longer, then sighed and nodded. "The hell with it... let's just go. It's more trouble than it's worth."
She beamed. "Such a softie..."
"Cloud..." Aerith smiled. "That was really sweet."
"That really was a nice thing you did, Cloud," Tifa added once we'd made it back down the ridge to where she and the others were. "Those chicks'll grow up nice and strong thanks to you."
I shrugged. "It wasn't much."
"Not bad, merc," Barret chuckled.
We moved on, following the tracks west and south for the next few hours as they continued to descend toward the valley below. Late in the afternoon, we came to one last long, narrow bridge over a rocky ravine. Floating lazily above the tracks about halfway across were what looked like several bright orange balls with short, stubby arms, blazing yellow eyes, and gaping mouths with sharp teeth.
"Bombs!" Jessie warned, drawing her weapons.
The rest of us did the same. Then she, Tifa, Red, and I all rushed in while Barret, Aerith, and Yuffie backed us up. Buster and Force Stealer cut and slashed again and again, Jessie was just a blur of motion as she spun like a dervish, slicing and dicing, and Tifa's fists and feet pounded the bombs again and again in between the rapid swipes of Red's claws. The others laid into the monsters with bullets, spells, and shuriken in a barrage of furious attacks, and soon most of the bombs had been dealt with and lay in pieces across the bridge.
Before we could take out the last one, though, it did the job for us, swooping right at Jessie as it quivered and shook. Her speed boost had worn off and there wasn't anyplace to go out here on the bridge. Just as the bomb was about to hit her, though, I dropped my swords, grabbed her in my arms, and dove down to the tracks. The bomb exploded only a second later as Jessie shrieked and clung tightly to me and the sound of bullets from Barret's gun-arm filled the air.
"You okay, Jessie?" I asked once the dust had settled.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Nice save."
I looked up at Barret. "It was a team effort."
"It's what we are," he nodded. Then he glanced at Jessie as he and I helped her get back to her feet. "Sure you awright, girl?"
She gave him a thumbs up. "Yep! Just a little singed is all."
Aerith giggled as she used her Prayer materia to see to our injuries. "Phew! That's good to hear! Had me scared there for a second. But our bodyguard was on the case, just like always!"
"It's what I'm here for," I said, giving her a faint smirk.
"Lucky us!" Jessie quipped. Then she stared curiously at the burnt, smoldering pieces of the bomb. "Hmm. I wonder..."
I followed her gaze. "Jessie?"
"See how big the blast was?" she said, pointing at the scorched and blackened section of the bridge around us. "It was pretty strong, Cloud. We're damn lucky it didn't blow the bridge apart."
"Yeah," I agreed.
Tifa chuckled. "You're planning something, aren't you?"
"That obvious, huh?" she laughed. "Well, you know that prototype raspberry I used against Jenova on the cargo ship?"
"It was quite an explosion," Red nodded.
Jessie knelt and began sifting through the debris. "I started making it at Fort Condor but didn't finish it until the day before we fought that bitch. It worked, but it was also the only one I had. If I can collect some of this shrapnel, though, I can use it to make more."
Aerith grinned. "Cool! So... would they be mega raspberries?"
"It's as good a name as any," Jessie smirked.
Once she'd picked up as much as she could carry and she and I had retrieved our weapons, we all got underway again. We made it the rest of the way across the bridge without a problem and followed the tracks further west for a while. It was only half an hour later when we turned a bend and saw the shattered ruins of what had once been a large town lying in a small valley not so far below us.
The buildings were blackened and burnt, the ground was scorched, and the roads were all broken and burnt, choked with glass and debris. The place was empty and abandoned but not completely overgrown, at least not yet—there wasn't enough plant life around here for that. And somehow that made it even worse. The ruined town just lay there open to the sky like the bones of a dead animal.
We all stopped without a word, our eyes drawn to the terrible sight spread out below us, and I was sharply reminded of when Tifa, Barret, and I had stared out at the ruins of Sector 7 back in Midgar on our way to sneak into the Shinra Building to save Aerith. It felt almost the same way here as it had there. When I looked up a moment later, I saw a tear slide down Jessie's left cheek before she could stop it. She wiped it away in a hurry, her gaze locked on the devastation below us, but didn't look like anyone else had noticed other than me.
"Corel..." she murmured.