"We will meet again, 'friend'."

FORGE THE PATH

Chapter XIII: Friend or Foe?

The morning sun greeted AVALANCHE as it peeped from the horizon. As the sunlight flowed into the forest, the group members began to wake up one by one.

Obi-Wan, after putting out the campfire with a simple wave of his hand, stood up and stretched his arms and legs. After finishing his quick morning routine, he turned to grab his robes until he noticed Yuffie still sitting next to where Obi-Wan sat.

The young ninja was mostly asleep. Her eyes were nearly shut and her mouth was left open ajar. Obi-Wan thought it was a miracle that the girl was even sitting relatively upright.

The Jedi cleared his throat to wake her up.

No response.

As the knight began to put on his large robes, he called out loud, "Yuffie."

Yuffie instantly sat up and retorted as she slurred, "I'm not sleeping." The ninja forced her unfocused eyes open as she stifled a yawn.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and smiled. "I can tell just by your vigilant look. I felt absolutely safe being by your side."

The ninja barely stood up with the help of the robed man. "See?" she mumbled with a groggy smirk. "I told you not to underestimate me, Obinak."

"Obinak," the Jedi repeated as he stroked his beard. "That's a new one."

"It's a joke, old man," Yuffie pointed out as she continued to force herself awake by stretching. "I'm not terrible with names, Obi-Wan."

"That's an absolute pleasure to hear," Obi-Wan mused with a smile as he turned to one of the tents, noticing Aerith slowly emerging from it. "It's already silly enough to have one person bad with names."

As the Cetra exited her tent, she noticed Obi-Wan standing nearby. "Good morning, Obi," she happily said as she straightened her dress.

"A fine morning, Aerith," the Jedi politely responded. "Did you sleep well?"

"Eh, it could've been better," Aerith mumbled as she stretched her back. "Would've been nice if we weren't attacked in the middle of our sleep."

The knight turned to his side and found Yuffie whistling while looking away. After shaking his head, Obi-Wan turned back to his friend and commented, "Perhaps it would've been worth it if Ms. Kisaragi posed a bit more of a challenge, don't you agree?"

The brunette nodded with a smirk. "Surely, you only speak only the truth, oh great wise knight from afar."

Yuffie abruptly stopped whistling upon hearing the discussion. She sharply turned back with an angry look. "Hey!" she exclaimed as she walked up to the two. "How about you say that to my face instead of chattering behind my back like bald chocobo babies?"

Aerith tapped her chin in thought. "What do bald chocobo babies have to do with any of this?" she asked with curiosity.

Before the ninja was able to reply, Tifa slowly crawled out of the same tent Aerith was in.

Yuffie noticed the fighter first and commented wide-eyed, "Wow, you look like a zombie, miss."

Tifa didn't respond as she slowly stood up. Her eyes were barely open and her hair was heavily disheveled. "…I feel like I haven't slept in a month," she let out in a mumble.

The Cetra leaned closer to Tifa with concern. "Goodness, Tifa. You really do look terrible. Have you been sleeping well these days?"

The brawler slowly turned to the brunette, her groggy look unchanging. With a monotonous voice, she answered, "Maybe if you don't kick about and shout weird things while sleeping, I would have a better time falling asleep." With that said, she slowly walked away from the campsite to wash her face.

…

Aerith frowned. "Jeez, what a grouch," the woman grumbled with an annoyed look as she crawled back into her tent.

Obi-Wan looked at Tifa walking away, then turned to Aerith's tent, and then finally turned to Yuffie with a quizzical look.

When the girl realized the robed man looking at her, she angrily mouthed, "What?!"

The Jedi shrugged.

Meanwhile, Cloud walked across the campsite, waking up the rest of the group. Nanaki opened his eyes before stretching his back. As he began to scratch his ear, Barret suddenly barged out of his tent, surprising the beast in the process.

The burly man began to stretch his body with a satisfied grin. After breathing in and out several times, he puffed his chest and said, "Damn, what a fine mornin'."

Nanaki frowned as he commented, "Perhaps it would be more wise to keep that contentment to yourself."

"Keep it to myself?" Barret questioned with a raise of his eyebrow. "That's borin' of you, my man. Where's the fun in bein' happy by yourself?"

"Your definition of 'bein' happy' is quite different from mine," the red lion mused as he looked at the ground.

"What'ya say?" the tall man asked as he stretched his arms, unable to hear the beast's words.

"It's nothing," Nanaki mumbled as he walked away to the other side of the campsite.

Barret shrugged it off and turned to Cloud, who was already folding his tent up. "Hey spikey," he began as he crossed his arms, "where are we goin' next?"

The blond paused his work to answer the gunman's question. "Remember what that Turk slipped out back at the mithril mines?"

Barret remembered the young female Turk in the caves. "Yeah?" he said as he recalled the moment.

"She pretty much confirmed our suspicions," Cloud explained as he resumed his work. "We'll be heading for Junon Harbor immediately."

"Cool," the burly man said as he turned to check the rest of the group. He noticed Tifa sleepily walking off and Aerith storming back into her tent. "What's up with her?" he asked to himself before turning to Obi-Wan and Yuffie. "Hey Spikey, another question."

The blond stopped once more, this time with a stern look on his face. "What now?" he asked tersely.

"What are we gonna do about that girl?" Barret asked as he motioned to Yuffie's direction. "We don't even know what she's up to."

Cloud turned to look at the ninja quietly talking to the Jedi. After a few seconds of silence, he quickly responded, "I'll ask her some questions and then decide that."

The burly man processed the answer as he scratched his chin. He then nearly exclaimed back in surprise, "You're actually givin' her a chance?"

"She could be useful," Cloud pointed out as he finished tying up his tent. "Who knows?" With that said, he placed the tent next to his bag before beginning to walk up to Yuffie.

Barret could not deny that there is a chance Yuffie can become a very useful asset to their cause. After reasoning with himself, he shrugged and decided to tie up his tent. "Damn," he grumbled to himself as he began to dismantle the tent. "Maybe Biggs was right. Maybe I really gotta lighten up or somethin'."

Obi-Wan readjusted his robes and said into Aerith's tent, "We should be packing up very soon. It might be best if you step out as soon as possible at the very least."

"…To be honest, I kinda want to lie down a bit longer," Aerith responded from inside the tent.

Yuffie raised her eyebrow at the comment.

Obi-Wan smirked as he crossed his arms. "So, you'd rather stay here longer and risk getting caught by Shinra, hm?"

After a moment of silence, the Cetra began to say from her shut tent, "Killing the mood at the start of the day? How…" At that moment, Aerith poked her head out of the tent and finished with a bright expression, "…uncivilized."

The Jedi chuckled at the joke.

Yuffie didn't and wondered if she should laugh along. What a dumb joke, she thought to herself.

Moments later, Cloud approached the girl. "Yuffie, was it?" the blond asked as he stood in front of the new face.

The ninja happily nodded. "Yuffie Kisaragi, at your service," she replied with a smile.

The leader raised his eyebrow. "Do you even know who we are, Yuffie?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

When she heard the question, the girl smirked as she crossed her arms. "I actually do know, thank you very much," she answered. "You're AVALANCHE, aren't you?"

The blond was slightly impressed. "…That's right," Cloud admitted with a nod. "How did you know that, though?"

"I overheard some Shinra peeps who were passing by," Yuffie explained as she tapped her chin. "It was a small group of weirdos in black suits."

Obi-Wan recognized the description of the group. "Turks," he noted with concern.

The blond nodded with a frown. "You say you were alone and don't have anyone else with you?"

The ninja girl nodded in confirmation and continued to tell her story. "It was a close call, mind you," she nearly exclaimed. "I got nearly caught. Thankfully, the grass was high enough for me to hide in." After taking a deep breath, she continued. "But yeah, they were talking about getting to Junon faster before some AVALANCHE group got there first. One of them was insulting 'their spikey-headed leader', which was how I recognized you." She added the last part with a mischievous grin as she pointed at the swordsman.

Aerith barely stifled a laugh, but Cloud noticed it and gave her a glare.

Yuffie crossed her arms again and explained, "From what I heard, you guys were going up against Shinra, one way or another." She then balled up her fists and angrily revealed through her gritted teeth, "Just know that I hate Shinra to the very core of my soul."

Cloud raised his eyebrow once more. "Why, though?" he asked.

"That's none of your business," Yuffie snapped before smiling again. "You know the old saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' It could work well with us, right?"

The blond looked at Aerith, wanting some response from her.

The Cetra shrugged. "The more the merrier," she commented. "But, it's up to you."

The leader then turned to Obi-Wan.

The Jedi stroked his beard. "She may have had a rude entrance, but I think she'll get along with the group well," he said. "Besides, she'll be a suitable replacement when Nanaki and I leave the team." With that said, he began to walk back to his tent to fold it up.

Aerith frowned at the last part of the statement. She then pulled herself back into the tent to prepare to leave.

Cloud wasn't particularly fond of what was to come, as well. But he masked his feelings and nodded. "Then it is decided." He then turned to Yuffie and announced, "You are now part of AVALANCHE."

Yuffie jumped in excitement. "Yeah! Thanks Spikey!" she exclaimed happily. "I won't disappoint you."

"It's Cloud," the blond reminded as he turned to look at the rest of the campsite. Tifa returned to help Barret fold up the tent while Nanaki cleaned up the area to get rid of any sign of camping. Satisfied with the progress, he turned back to the ninja. "Cloud Strife."

"Alright then, Cloud," the girl replied. "I'm still calling you Spikey, tho!"

"Suit yourself," Cloud mumbled as he walked to help Barret, who was now complaining about his crumpled tent.

Obi-Wan finished folding up his tent with ease. After packing up his bag and zipping it up, he sat on a nearby log and looked into the distance away from the campsite. The robed man sighed and began to drown himself in thought.

The Jedi closed his eyes and meditated to connect to Luke through the Force. He cleared his head and banished any lingering thoughts to make his path clear. Despite his efforts, however, he failed to reach Skywalker once again.

The knight opened his eyes and began to think. The Force is clouded, he realized. After several failed attempts, the thought has finally dawned upon him. It is as if I'm trapped in a bubble. There is no way to connect to anything or anyone outside of this planet with simple meditation. He shook his head and reasoned with himself, There is no need to concern myself with this at this moment. After meeting with Bugenhagen, my path will be clearer than now.

Obi-Wan stood up to pick up his bag and rejoin the team. As he did, he heard soft rustling from within the forest. The Jedi froze and swiftly turned to where the noise came from. It was away from the campsite behind a cluster of large trees.

The robed man looked behind him. The team was still busy cleaning up the campsite and preparing to leave. He then turned back to the cluster. Placing his hand on the lightsaber on his belt, he quickly walked to the source of the noise.

He quickly darted behind the cluster of the trees.

…

Nothing.

No one was there.

Must've been small creatures, the Jedi thought to himself before turning back to walk to the campsite. Before he was able to, though, something caught the corner of his eye.

He looked at the ground.

Footprints.

Obi-Wan's first speculation was that they could belong to Yuffie. Upon closer inspection, however, he noticed that the footprints were too big for her.

What concerned him the most was that the footprints were directly facing the campsite.

It was clear as crystal to him.

Someone was watching them overnight.

I got a bad feeling about this, the Jedi thought as his face paled.

Cloud helped Aerith and Tifa finish folding up their tent and pack up the last bag. "Well, that's the last of 'em," he announced with satisfaction.

Tifa nodded and said, "Getting to Junon shouldn't take too long from this point. I'm liking our progress so far."

Obi-Wan suddenly walked in and interrupted, "Then we must hurry, because we may have been watched while most of us were sleeping."

Everyone froze when the Jedi finished his statement.

After moments of silence, Nanaki finally asked with his eyes narrowed, "Someone was spying on us?"

"It appears to be the case," the Jedi confirmed. "I found large footprints far from our campsite. Whoever it belonged to, he or she was looking straight at us."

Barret's jaws dropped. He then glared at Yuffie and barked, "So you got some cronies working with you, eh?"

The ninja furiously shook her head and waved her arms in defense. "Hey, I was alone, alright?!" she exclaimed. She then turned to the robed man and pointed out, "Maybe it's one of Shinra's men!"

Cloud shook his head, his expression unchanging. "If it was one of Shinra's, I would've noticed."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard as his brows knitted together, "I'm also surprised this person slipped under my field. I have a very specific way of keeping watch, and it's very reliable."

…

"…Unless," the Jedi trailed off as he closed his eyes in thought.

"Unless what?" the burly man asked impatiently, dying to know what was in the knight's mind.

"Unless if the person knows how to slip past a seasoned Jedi Knight," Obi-Wan finished, growing very concerned at the thought.

Aerith gasped at the mention of the idea.

Yuffie grew puzzled. "What the heck is a jehdie night?" she asked.

Tifa shook her head. "I know nothing about Jedi Knights or anything about your world," she admitted with a frown. "But, that idea seems a bit… far-fetched. From the sounds of it, your world seems incredibly far away from ours."

Barret nodded in agreement. "Eh, Tifa has a point, wise guy," he agreed as he scratched his chin. "We haven't had any news of any alien junk happenin', even after you arrived. Well, 'cept you, of course."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "We can't count any possibilities out in times like this. It is already strange enough that I am on this planet. If we are indeed facing any foes from my world, then this will mean trouble tenfold."

Yuffie's eyes were wide in confusion. "What the heck are you guys talking about?" she nearly shouted.

"I will explain on the way," the Jedi assured with a small smile. He then turned to Cloud, who was peculiarly quiet. The blond was staring off into the distance. He seemed to be deep in thought. "What are your thoughts, Cloud?" the robed man inquired.

The blond shook his head after hearing the question, almost as to shake off the thoughts in his head. "Dunno," he replied half-heartedly. "But whatever the case may be, we gotta move if someone, whoever it is, is watching us. I think all of us can agree on that."

Everyone quickly nodded in agreement.

"Good," Cloud commented at everyone's response. "Then we need to get moving." After picking up his bag, he turned to the horizon outside of the forest and began. "Next stop, Junon."

The AVALANCHE trekked across the rolling grassy hills. The weather was cool and yielding for the team and the clouds occasionally covered the sun. To say the least, it was a good day for walking.

Having already finished lunch, the team continued to walk as Cloud led the way. While they traveled, Obi-Wan was explaining to the newest addition of the team, Yuffie, of his origins.

The ninja spoke up with curiosity, "So you're saying that you Jedi Knights are being hunted down by this 'Empire'?"

The Jedi nodded. "Quite right," he confirmed.

"And you have no way of connecting to any other Jedi right now?"

"That is correct."

Yuffie looked at the ground and sighed. "…Man, that must be tough," she mumbled, "when the whole world is after you."

"I appreciate the sentiment," Obi-Wan said with a smile. "But when the Force is with you, you get used to it."

"Speaking of which," the girl suddenly looked up and began, "may I see that weapon you mentioned?"

The Jedi raised his eyebrow. "You mean my lightsaber?" he asked.

"Yes, that thing."

"Alright then," the knight replied with a shrug as he took out his weapon from his belt. He then ignited his lightsaber. An ominous blue light extended from the cylindrical metal, greeting the world with its peculiar noise. It hummed as it retained its sword-like shape.

Yuffie's jaws dropped when she witnessed this. She lost all her words at the sight before her.

Obi-Wan inspected his lightsaber and mused, "Ah, yes," he commented with a small smile. "A weapon that is a symbol of a more civilized age. As I always say, it's powerful, precise, and nowhere near as clumsy as firearms."

Upon hearing the last part of the Jedi's little discourse, Barret, who was eavesdropping on the talk, turned to the robed man and asked, "Hey now, what's so bad about guns?"

The Jedi stroked his beard and claimed, "They are, for the most part, unreliable."

"Unreliable?" the burly man nearly spat out incredulously. "Am I hearin' you right, dude?" He then cradled his gun arm and asked, "Y'know what kind of crazy junk I can do with this baby?"

"Miss."

"MISS?!" Barret shouted angrily at the knight, who was chuckling at his own joke. "Stop laughin', man. There will be a time you wished you used a gun instead of that laser toy of yours!"

"Laser toy?" Obi-Wan repeated with a laugh as he unignited his lightsaber. "Earlier in our journey, you seemed desperate to hire me due to my skills with my 'laser toy'."

"There WILL be a damn time!" the tall man seethed back as he pointed at his gun arm.

Unbeknownst to the two, who continued to argue about their weapons, Yuffie mischievously grinned as she locked her eyes on the lightsaber in Obi-Wan's hand.

I think I'll be getting my hands on something more valuable than Materia during this trip, she thought to herself, her grin widening. Heh heh heh heh heh.

Meanwhile, Cloud continued to walk forward, occasionally looking back to see how his team was doing. When he caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan and Barret arguing while making strange hand motions, he only shook his head and turned back to face his destination.

The blond pulled out his PHS and checked the time.

3:27 PM.

Looks like we're on track, he thought to himself as he put away his mobile device. The swordsman was concerned they would be late, considering how areas under direct Shinra control tend to become harder to sneak into at night. He even asked Obi-Wan if they should borrow his Chocobo-summoning skills to call in the herd of large birds once more. The knight declined, saying that it would be unwise to call in such a large herd in Shinra's view. The robed man reasoned with him that unless if they were behind schedule, they should avoid using such tactic.

Cloud peered at the horizon. Junon was only about an hour and a half away from them. We'll sneak into the fortress from below, he planned as he stroked his chin. There should be a way in there.

As the swordsman continued to think, someone tapped his shoulder from behind.

"You seem to be deep in thought, Mister Leader," Tifa said with a smile.

"I can think on my own, thank you very much," Cloud declined the help before his friend was able to offer any.

"That's not a very 'leader' thing to do," the brawler commented, trying to lighten up her old friend. "We're a team. We're supposed to think together."

"It's also a leader's job to be capable and not ask for help all the time," the swordsman brushed off nonchalantly as he continued to walk forward without turning back. "We can't slow down. We'll only miss our chance to catch Sephiroth if we do."

The young woman fell silent at the comment. She looked away from the blond, hurt by the cold attitude of her friend. When she tried to think of something else to say, no ideas came into her head.

A moment later, Aerith caught up to Cloud and was walking backwards next to him, facing him as she did. She held an annoyed expression with her arms crossed. "Hey Cloud," she began. "Don't you think you're being a little unfair?"

"Excuse me?" Cloud asked back as he slightly turned to face Aerith as he continued to walk forward.

"All Tifa did was trying to help," the Cetra replied as she slightly raised her voice. "And you, Sir I'm-so-cool-for-help, just slapped her in the face with words."

The blond shook his head. "That's not what I meant to do," he replied shortly.

"Then, what do you have to say, Cloud?" the brunette asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"…" Cloud turned to Tifa and quickly apologized, "Sorry." He then swiftly turned back and continued walking with his mouth shut.

Tifa made a small smile as she took out a bottle of water. It wasn't much, but she still appreciated the swordsman's small change of attitude and Aerith's efforts to help them both. She told herself to thank the woman later.

Aerith made a big smile. "That's great!" she said happily with a small clap. "You're one step closer to having a successful date with me!"

Tifa spewed out the water she was drinking and Cloud suddenly began to cough uncontrollably.

The blond was the first to speak. "Don't just blurt it out like that!" he snapped at the Cetra.

"What?" the brunette asked with a shrug. "That was the deal, wasn't it?"

As the fighter finished coughing out the water left in her mouth, she finally asked incredulously, "What the hell's this date about?"

Aerith explained, confused at the sudden outburst by the two, "It's part of the deal Cloud and I made. He becomes my bodyguard, and in exchange, I'll date him."

Tifa rolled her eyes and nearly shouted, "What kind of deal is THAT?" She then turned to the swordsman and asked, "And you accepted this?!"

The blond shouted back in defense, "I didn't have much choice at the time! What else was I supposed to say?"

The Cetra felt insulted by Tifa's words. "Hey, how is this not a fair deal? Cool guy here gets to date me, the ever-so-wonderful Aerith Gainsborough."

The brawler nearly scoffed at that statement.

Before she was able to say anything back, however, Aerith suddenly asked, "Wait, why are you so angry about this?"

Tifa blurted out, "Huh?"

"This is between me and Cloud," the annoyed brunette stated with an angry look. "Why are you so concerned about this?"

The fighter's face began to redden. "Because," she let out with difficulty, maintaining an angry look.

Annoyed by the lack of answer, the Cetra interrogated, "Because what?"

"BECAUSE!" Tifa shouted.

"Yeah, so WHY?" Aerith shouted back.

Unable to answer the question, the female brawler retorted, "Why would you date him, out of all the women here?!"

"What?!" the Cetra exclaimed with a surprised look. "What's wrong with me?! I'm absolutely normal!"

"You? Normal? How are any of us normal here?" the fighter asked with gritted teeth.

Cloud, feeling annoyed by the fight, interrupted with an annoyed look, "Why are we even…"

"SHUT IT," both women exclaimed.

"…Oh."

Nanaki, who was walking in the middle of the group, had to endure both arguments. He was about to speak up like Cloud, but when he saw him getting shut down, the red beast lowered his head and continued to walk silently. For a moment, it really seemed as if going back to Shinra was a better idea, he admitted to himself before dispelling the thought.

Aerith continued to argue. "Why are you even so mad? I'm just dating Cloud once later."

Tifa's rage grew at the word "date". "Why do you have to date him? Why would you ask to date him shortly after meeting him for the first time, anyway?!"

"Why are you so MAD about it, though?!"

"Aerith!"

"What?!"

"Rock!"

"Huh- WHOARGH!" exclaimed as she tripped over a stray rock on the ground. She landed on her back and toppled over, her face flat on the grassy ground.

The rest of the group froze when this happened. Even Obi-Wan and Barret abruptly stopped arguing.

Cloud and Tifa were the first to rush to the collapsed Aerith, who was lying still on the ground on her face.

The blond shook the Cetra to get a response from her. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

Tifa gently shook the brunette's shoulder. "Can you hear us, Aerith?" Tifa asked, worried for the Cetra.

A moment later, Aerith lifted her head off the ground. She coughed out the dirt from her mouth before opening her eyes. She finally muttered, "I never knew dirt tasted this bad."

Cloud finally asked again, "Are you okay, Aerith?"

The Cetra slowly nodded. She then turned to the blond and the brawler and gave them a smile.

Although the swordsman was relieved, he shook his head as he recalled why she fell over in the first place.

Tifa sheepishly smiled back. Despite what happened earlier, she was relieved the brunette was fine.

Barret stared at the three in silence. He then broke the quiet mood by asking the rest of the group near him, "The hell happened?"

Nanaki shook his head and commented in disbelief, "This is the group that will save Gaia from Shinra."

Yuffie cringed at the idea, choosing to remain silent.

Obi-Wan shook his head and chuckled.

Over an hour later, the team finally arrived at Junon. To Cloud's surprise, the small town underneath the fortress was a lot more run down than he thought. Most of the small buildings were visibly damaged, and the whole place was shrouded in darkness thanks to the fortress above them. The place felt desolate and hopeless.

Yuffie looked around before commenting, "What a cheerful place."

Cloud turned to his team and announced, "We'll look for a place to rest for a moment. Afterwards, we'll be sneaking into the fortress. Sephiroth should be up there somewhere."

Tifa raised her hand and then asked, "How will we know if he's nearby?"

Barret shrugged. "Trail of blood, I guess," he suggested with a grumble.

Aerith shook her head at the idea. "That's a pleasant thought," she murmured in disgust. She then walked past the group and looked around the town. "This place doesn't look so good compared to Kalm," she thought out loud.

Cloud pointed at the large metal structure that covered the skies. "It's because of that fortress," he explained. "It's pretty clear that Shinra didn't care much about this town even after building their little castle here."

The burly man grumbled and asked, "Why is it so easy to hate Shinra anyway? Damn them all."

Nanaki shook his head and suggested, "We should probably look for a place to rest before we begin our next move."

Obi-Wan nodded and said, "I agree with Nanaki. I think we should split up and look for an inn."

Cloud nodded. "I was thinking the same thing," he said as he crossed his arms. "Barret, Aerith, Yuffie, you three will be coming with me."

Tifa tapped her chin and assumed, "Then I guess the rest of us are another group."

The knight adjusted his robes and commented with a smile, "It is settled, then. Tifa, Nanaki, and I will be looking elsewhere for a place to stay." He then pointed at an alleyway and said, "We'll begin by searching that area."

The swordsman nodded. "We'll be searching this area. I'll give you a call when we find it."

With the groups decided, the team split up and went their ways.

Obi-Wan, Nanaki, and Tifa walked through the alleyway in search for a place to stay. All the buildings looked ramshackle and unstable. It almost seemed like a miracle they were still standing upright.

As the team walked, the fighter smiled and stated, "Quite an adventure this is becoming, yes?"

The knight and the beast turned to her. Obi-Wan nodded in agreement and responded, "Quite so. After many years of solitude, it certainly feels good to be on one."

The red lion simply commented, "It's much better than sitting in a test tube."

Tifa smiled and fell silent for a moment. After much pondering she began again, "Hey, I was wondering."

The other two turned back to her once more.

"Have you two reconsidered joining us? Fighting for Gaia?"

It was a heavy question.

Obi-Wan and Nanaki looked at each other and then turned back to the brawler.

The red lion spoke first. "I have thought about it many times during our journey so far," he admitted. "However, my decision has not changed. It is not my fight, and I simply wish to return to my home."

The Jedi then opened his mouth to explain his thoughts. "I have interfered with this world's matters too much already," he said with concern. "It is dangerous if this continues. Not to mention, I have too large of a bounty on my head. If the empire ever finds this planet, that will only spell disaster. I have to leave this world as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Tifa sighed and closed her eyes. "…It's fine," she said with disappointment and sadness. "I just think you two are more than just temporary allies."

Nanaki was confused by this statement. "What do you mean?" he asked.

The fighter smiled. "We're all friends," she said quietly. "We're more than just a team. We all care for each other, and… our intentions are great."

After remaining silent, Obi-Wan took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sure about that, Tifa?"

"Huh?"

"Are you sure that your intentions are great?" the knight asked as he looked into the woman's eyes.

Tifa tried to look away but found it to be a difficult task. "Um," she mumbled, "we're fighting for our planet. That's a noble goal, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes," the Jedi replied with a nod. "Yes it is… But that isn't your primary goal, is it not?"

The fighter looked surprised at the statement, but she remained silent.

"I sense something stirring within you," the knight explained. "I can feel it. It's what drives you. Whatever this is, it motivates you to fight on. This mysterious thing… is anger."

The woman nearly held her breath as she stared at the robed man.

"It's revenge, isn't it?" Obi-Wan inquired as his expression softened. "You want to get equal with Shinra for what they did to you."

Nanaki remembered something when he heard this. "Cloud's story back in Kalm," he recalled as he looked at the knight, then at the brawler. "It's when Sephiroth attacked his hometown… Your hometown…"

Tifa let go of her breath and closed her eyes in sorrow. "…That's right," she admitted. "I want to destroy Shinra for taking everything from me. I'm not going to stop until I get what I want."

The Jedi shook his head and said, "Vengeance will only get you so far. It is a hungry beast that will devour you slowly until it completely changes you."

The fighter remained silent while the red lion listened carefully.

"Fear, anger, suffering," the knight continued, "they are the path of the dark side. There will only be destruction and sadness in the end of it." I lost a dear friend because of it, the robed man thought to himself in sadness.

Tifa opened her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. "But I don't have anything left," the woman pointed out. "Shinra took everything from me."

"No. Not everything," Obi-Wan simply said as he shook his head. With a small smile, he added, "He is here for you, is he not?"

The brawler looked at the Jedi. Cloud, she thought. It's true that Shinra took many things from her. But, not all is lost. He's still here. She then smiled, a bit of relief overtaking her. "You're right," she began. "Not everything is lost. Not yet." The woman then gave the knight a small bow. "I must thank you, Obi-Wan. You helped me realize something that I needed to remember."

"Do not mention it," the Jedi replied with a grin. "I'm simply glad you noticed it yourself."

Nanaki smiled at the scene, but then remembered what they had to do. "I am certainly glad this came to a good conclusion," he interrupted, "but we must look for our resting place."

"Oh, right," Obi-Wan said, remembering their task. He then turned back to the fighter. "Let's continue our search, shall we?"

Tifa nodded happily. "Let's get this over with quick," she replied.

Cloud, Barret, Aerith, and Yuffie searched the town square for an inn of any sort. Much to their chagrin, the only inn in town was closed for several months now. Annoyed by this discovery, the group paused their search and huddled around.

Barret turned to their leader with a frown. "Well, what now?" he asked as he crossed his arms.

Disappointed with the lack of results, Cloud replied, "We'll take a break until we get anything from Tifa's side. Hopefully, they'll find something."

Yuffie kicked the dirt on the groud with a frown. "This sucks a lot," she grumbled as she rubbed her temples. "What if they don't find anything?"

The blond shrugged. "If it comes to that, then we're resting up with our camping tools," he explained.

Aerith, bored from the unfruitful search, looked around and noticed a stone stairway between two buildings that led down to a shore with a view of the ocean. She smiled at the sight and turned back to the group. "Well, if we're taking a break now, I'm gonna go for some sightseeing," she quickly said before running down the stairs.

Cloud smirked as he saw the Cetra going to the beach. "I'll be going there, too," he told the other two before heading down the stairs.

Barret and Yuffie looked at each other, and then turned back to the blond, who was walking down the stairs.

Obi-Wan and his teammates reached a dead end.

"Blast it," the Jedi grumbled as he shook his head in disappointment. "This is turning out to be disappointing."

Tifa looked around the place. There were only several more buildings and a junkyard. "Do you think we missed it?" she asked.

The red lion shook his head and answered, "We can't have missed anything. There weren't too many buildings to begin with."

The knight looked at the junkyard and began, "Perhaps Cloud and his team will have better luck with finding…" He abruptly stopped as something caught his eye in the trash field. "Wait a minute," he murmured as he suddenly ran into the junkyard.

Tifa held out her arm and exclaimed, "Wait, where you going?!"

Without saying a word, the red lion followed the robed man into the enclosed area.

The brawler shook her head in concern. "Oooooh," she let out under her breath as she ran to where the other two were going to.

Nanaki and Tifa caught up to Obi-Wan, who was standing still in front of something. The two moved aside to see the point of interest.

It turned out the knight was looking over an unconscious man only in his underwear.

The beast raised his eyebrow at the sight, "Now who is this unconscious fellow?"

The woman raised her eyebrow in wonder, "And why are his clothes gone?"

The Jedi shook the unconscious man to wake him up. "Sir, are you alright?" he asked, trying to revive the dazed person.

The man only slumped against the pile of trash behind him.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "He's completely out of it," he commented as he began to inspect the man's body.

The beast motioned towards the person's lower left leg, which was bent in an awkward position. "Look at this," he said with concern. "The leg looks broken."

The Jedi noticed it and added, "It seems more like someone broke it. The man can't have bent his leg on his own like this."

Tifa took a step back to take a breath. The other two was too preoccupied with the scene as they continued to discuss about the dazed person in front of them. As she tried to catch a breather, however, she noticed some noise coming from outside the junkyard.

She swiftly turned around to face the exit of the trash field. The fighter turned around to see the Jedi and the beast. From the looks of it, they did not hear the noise, as they continued to talk about the matter in front of them.

Curious about the suspicious noise, Tifa ran out of the junkyard while Obi-Wan and Nanaki continued to inspect the body. She looked left and right, looking for the source of the noise. She then found a figure from afar walking behind a building. From the looks of it, it looked like a common blue-armored Shinra soldier.

The brawler quickly darted to where the Shinra soldier went to. She turned to the soldier, who was carrying a very large sack on his back. He seemed to try to walk off away somewhere.

Tifa couldn't put her finger on it, but she was getting a very strange vibe from this soldier.

She thought about calling the person out to grab his attention, but that would be an obvious risk that could be deadly.

Before she was able to decide, however, the soldier suddenly stopped walking.

Tifa froze.

The armored man slowly turned his head to the fighter's direction.

The two stood absolutely still for what felt like hours.

After a moment of silence, the fighter gulped and began to walk up to the soldier. "Hold it right there…" she let out before the man suddenly dropped his baggage, which made a metallic clanging noise, and ran up to the brawler.

"H-huh?!" Tifa gasped, taken aback by the incredible speed of the armored figure. He was faster than any common Shinra soldier she ever faced. Much faster. She tried to move to a defensive position, but she was taken by surprise when the man suddenly kicked sand into her eyes.

"Ow!" the fighter let out as she tried to rub the dirt off of her eyes. Before she was able to recover, the soldier strongly grabbed her arms. The woman tried to shake him off, but the man's grasp was stronger than she anticipated. Much stronger than any Shinra soldier she faced.

Tifa squinted her eyes to look at the mystery person before her. It was impossible to tell who the man was through his night-vision goggled mask and helmet. He began to reach for something in his pocket. Noticing her chance, Tifa kneed through the soldier's slightly baggy pants and aimed for the crotch area.

To her surprise, she hit something incredibly hard and resilient. It felt like metal.

The fighter groaned in shock as she nearly collapsed, the pain running through her knee.

The armored man simply grabbed Tifa again by her arms and aimed a device in his hand at her face.

"Wha…" the brawler mumbled as she looked at the device in the soldier's hand.

A bright flash completely overtook her vision.

Everywhere became completely white while a soft ringing overtook her hearing.

She felt the man shove her to a nearby building. Tifa, sitting against the building, tried to do whatever she could defend herself, even with her vision and hearing taken out.

…

…

Nothing.

The man didn't strike.

Tifa's vision and hearing began to return to her. Through her hazy sight, she found that the mysterious soldier was gone, along with his strange bag.

A moment later, Obi-Wan and Nanaki arrived at the scene. Both rushed to the brawler.

"By the Force," the Jedi muttered, his eyes wide with concern, "are you alright, Tifa?"

The fighter slowly nodded, her vision returning back to normal. "Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled as she rubbed her temples.

"Pull yourself together," the beast encouraged as he took a step back for Obi-Wan to help her back up.

The knight offered his hand to the brawler. Without hesitation, she grabbed his hand and got back up to her feet.

Tifa carefully stretched her leg to check if they were fine. Much to her relief, they were. "Thanks for saving me," she said with a sigh of relief. "Regular Shinra soldiers are usually easy to deal with one by one."

Obi-Wan and Nanaki looked at each other with concern. The red lion turned back to the fighter and answered, "We didn't save you from anyone, Tifa."

The brawler tilted her head in thought. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I was being attacked and you two showed up and…"

The knight shook his head. "It's clear that you were attacked," he explained as he crossed his arms, "but we did not see anyone here by the time we arrived. You were alone here, sitting against the wall."

Tifa grew concerned. "You didn't see my attacker?" she asked, biting her lips. "He was a Shinra soldier. Blue armor, face-sized goggles, everything."

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow. "Shinra soldier?" he asked as he stroked his beard.

"Yes," the woman replied with a nod. "For a common grunt, he was extremely good at hand-to-hand combat. I was caught off guard. He took me out in a matter of seconds."

Nanaki narrowed his eyes at hearing that. "Interesting," he mused, "to hear that someone could defeat you so efficiently in such kind of combat..."

The Jedi suddenly looked alert. "Wait," he cut off the beast as his eyes widened. "A Shinra soldier?" Before anyone was able to respond, he quickly ran to the other side of the building they were next to in the alleyway. He peaked behind the building wall at the large metal structure at the end of town.

All the guards and soldiers patrolling the area seemed relaxed. Many were simply chatting while a few walked around the place, looking unconcerned.

After looking at the scene, the knight walked back to the rest of his group in the alley. "…That is odd," he mumbled as he shook his head.

Tifa and Nanaki looked at each other, then at the robed man. The brawler spoke up with curiosity, "What do you mean?"

Obi-Wan crossed his arms once more. "Don't you think it's odd?" he asked. "If a Shinra soldier was in a fight with a wanted individual who attacked their reactors and their headquarters, wouldn't he have already alerted the whole fortress?"

Nanaki nodded upon hearing the comment. "You bring a very good point," he admitted.

Tifa tapped her chin in thought before saying, "Perhaps he didn't recognize us. Or, even if he did, perhaps he had better things to do. Even the Turks didn't attack us back at the mines."

The Jedi shook his head and disagreed. "We may not be Shinra's top priority right now. Yes, the Turks did not even think about fighting us," he explained. "However, this mystery soldier you mentioned attacked you. In this kind of case, normally, soldiers alert his other allies to receive help. Curiously, he did not do any of this, and he appears to have just disappeared."

The brawler slowly nodded. She had to admit the situation was incredibly strange. "Speaking of which," the woman spoke again, "the man was carrying a large bag over his back. From the sound of it, I think he had a lot of metallic things in it."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples. "I sense that there is a correlation between this mystery soldier and that nearly-naked man we found in the junkyard."

Nanaki looked at the Jedi. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Maybe that mystery soldier is not part of Shinra at all," the Jedi explained. "Maybe he is the one who knocked out that poor fellow in the junkyard."

Tifa's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting that the man we found in the junkyard is a real Shinra soldier," she asked after gasping in surprise, "but his armor was stolen by that man who attacked me and ran off?"

The Jedi nodded before continuing, "It may be a theory, but it is likely."

The red lion frowned at the idea. "Very likely," he agreed with concern. "The question now is clear, though: Who?"

The knight stroked his beard in thought. "It could be anyone," he said pensively. "It could be a disgruntled person who has some vendetta against Shinra, or it can be someone bigger than that." He then quickly added, "I doubt this is Sephiroth's doing, though."

Tifa closed her eyes as she contemplated on the matter. "Whoever it is," she mused as she bit her lips, "we need to be very careful."

Obi-Wan and Nanaki nodded in agreement.

Before they were able to continue the discussion, the brawler's phone rang.

Tifa quickly took out her PHS. "I got it," she said as she flipped open her phone and put it on speaker mode. "Hello?"

From the woman's phone, the team was able to hear Barret's voice along with incredibly loud background noises. "Hey, it's me Barret," the burly man's voice said in a loud tone.

The fighter paused for a moment, confused by the loud noises she was hearing from the phone. "What's going on there, Barret?" she asked. "It's really noisy on your side."

"Yeah, we got a bit of a problem…" Barret's voice began before being cut off by loud gun-firing noises. It sounded just like the gun man's signature weapon. "A bit of a big problem."

Tifa grew concerned. "What's the big problem? What's going on over there?" she nearly shouted.

"WHOA SHI-…"

The voice was cut off while the gun-firing noises continued. Tifa swore she also heard sword slashing noises and magic being used.

Before the group was able to respond to any of this, a frantic female voice shouted from the phone, "Tifa! Nanaki! Obi-Wan! You gotta help us! We were on a beach but this giant sea creature swallowed this little girl and we tried to save her but now the thing is trying to eat us! It looks disgusting, too!"

The voice sounded like it belonged to Aerith, but the voice was cut off and the fighting noises resumed.

Then they heard something roar from the phone.

Tifa, Obi-Wan, and Nanaki all looked at each other, their eyes narrowing.

The fighter gritted her teeth. "You guys know what to do, right?" she asked.

The knight and the beast nodded quickly.

The three began to run for the beach to help their friends.

Author's Note:

Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long. Admittedly, I've been very busy and lost interest in writing this fic.

The biggest reason why I lost my motivation for this story is due to Star Wars' change of "canonicity" after Disney bought Lucasfilms. I had to make too many changes to my plans for this fic.

After watching the new Star Wars movies and rekindling my passion for both the series and Final Fantasy, I decided to get off my butt and resume my work. So, here's my long overdue chapter.

Anyways, I'll be continuing both Forge the Path and Chronomaniac to the best of my abilities.

Hopefully most of you old readers are still around.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more.