Reeve pulled himself off of the floor. “Cid how ready to fly is the Highwind?”

Cid laughed out loud. “Few months at best is when she’ll be flying next.” He paused. “Right now she’d probably just fall apart the second we started up the engines.”

“Damn it” Reeve swore. “What else do we have?”

“Not much a few old biplanes and such.” Cid puled out a cigarette and lighted. “We were sure as hell a good target weren’t we?”

Reno was watching with disgust. “Hello is anyone home here?” he said, “ do you not understand that we have to acting not thinking. You can sit her and discuss things but I’m leaving. Right now.”

With that Reno walked out the door, Cloud though for a second then followed him with a small “catch ya later” as he walked out the door. He caught up to Reno who didn’t seem to notice his presence for a while.

“Ah.” Reno finally said. “At least one of you has some sense, let’s get the hell out of here.” He paused thoughtfully. “I wonder how, land and sea are both covered, probably air too.”

“ Let’s worry about that later.” Cloud said, “ the airport is this way.” He took the lead and they were on their way. Through hallways and large rooms full of rushing soldiers.

The loud speaker suddenly squawked to life with reeve’s voice. “Attention citizens of Junon.” He said “ we are under attack by overwhelming numbers and are surrounded. I have been contacted by the leader and told that any civilian fleeing will not be harmed unless he or she harms one of their soldiers. Therefore I urge all of you to take as much as you can carry and leave before we fall to them.”

As if the hallways weren’t crowded already, thousands of screaming people suddenly rushed into the halls, Cloud was almost tempted to leave with them but he still sported his, or rather Zack’s, Soldier uniform and would probably be taken for part of the military trying to get away.

Eventually they pushed their way to the lift elevator up to the airport level. Cloud switched it on and it began to rise jerkily. About halfway up it jerked to an abrupt halt during an exceptionally large explosion. Reno lost his balance and with a cry toppled over the side, Cloud was quick and dove for him barely grasping his flailing hand before it fell out of reach.

There was another explosion that rocked Junon to the core and the lift abruptly started moving again. This time Cloud lost his precarious balance and like Reno toppled over the side. He flailed his arms grabbing for anything to stop is fall and caught ahold of the side of the lift. The jolt Knocked Reno out of his hand, but Reno had caught his foot on the way down.

Cloud thought that if he were a bystander he would have been rolling around with laughter at them. Cloud hanging on for dear life with one hand and slipping, Reno holding onto his foot adding more weight to him and helping his hand to slip faster. Cloud couldn’t quite get his left arm up to grasp ahold of the lift; he was twisted at too awkward an angle. “If you have any good Ideas now would be a good time to tell me.” He called down to Reno

Reno looked up and his eyes widened. “Not to add any pressure to you but look up” he said. Cloud did and saw another lift coming down beside the one that they were going up on. When they passed beside each other there would maybe be an inch of space between them.

“Ah shit.” Cloud exclaimed. “ Haven’t I been through enough yet? hasn't God had enough of kicking my ass.”

Cloud swung a bit so that he could reach up with his other hand. Once he grasped the lift with his left hand he let go with his right and reached down to Reno. Reno reached and grabbed it, as Cloud lifted him one-handed up to the lift beside him. Reno climbed the rest of the way up and started pulling Cloud up. Cloud climbed up, and just as the lifts passed each other he pulled his leg up onto the lift.

“Well that was an adventure.” Reno said a little sarcastically. “ Kinda weird a few years you were trying to kill me and now you’re saving my life. My how things change.”

The lift finally got to the top and they left it going out onto the airport runway. Four Biplanes sat in a row along with a few even older planes. Cloud ran for one of the biplanes and got into the pilot’s seat. Reno climbed into the passenger seat in front of him asking, “ hey do you know how to fly this thing?”

“ Not a clue” Cloud said. “But I learn fast.”

It seemed to satisfy Reno who was loading the plane’s one and only gun. The engine started and the plane began moving forward. Faster and faster it went until it fell off the end of the runway into open air. It fell a few feet before the wind caught it'’ wings then they were off. Cloud took the plane out over the water and started a wide turn that would eventually bring them back to land.

Reno was the first to spot the jet fighters that were closing behind them fast. Four of them. He pointed them out to Cloud who started swearing up a storm. “Hey you have to do something man.” Reno said, “they’ll kill us for sure if you don’t do something more than fly in a straight line.”

“I know dammit.” Cloud answered. Taking the plane down almost to skimming the water, then he turned sharply towards the land. It was a sparsely forested area. There were gaps big enough for the plane to fit through but it would take a master pilot to weave between through them. Which Cloud was not.

He did his best, actually not that bad for someone who had only piloted once before that day. Soon the jets caught up and began shooting at them. Bullets zinged and whizzed just about everywhere but through them. Then suddenly the forest in front of them erupted in a ball of fire. Cloud’s reflexes were split second; he pulled the plane up and over the expanding ball of flame as if he’d been flying all his life.

And then the Jets were gone. Cloud searched the sky looking for them but he didn’t see them. Then he saw it. It was huge and coming straight for them. Reno followed is vacant stare and his jaw dropped. “ What the hell is that?” he asked. “It’s huge.”

Suddenly the small radio in front of Reno squawked. It was Cid’s voice. “You bastards need any help?” he asked

“It’s the Highwind.” Cloud exclaimed through his surprise. “I thought he said it wouldn’t fly.”

“Reeve’s voice came over the radio “We’ve evacuated as many of the military as we could and we’re regrouping in Wutai.” He said.

Reno picked up the radio and said. “ Hey I’ll be there I have to pay those ass hole’s back for losing my bike.”

Cloud followed the Highwind around in a turn towards the ocean. Soon there was nothing but water as far as he could see. “Reno,” Cloud said. “ What possible reason could professor Gast want for me? I’m a nobody, the only reason anyone knows my name is because I killed Sephiroth.”

“Hey I don’t know.” Reno admitted. “But if you ask me I would have to say that he was experimenting with you and wasn’t finished. He was well known for performing human experiments. Remember that Ancient? Aeris?”

“How could I forget?” Cloud said feeling some of the old pain from having his heart ripped out of his chest and stomped on, when Sephiroth had killed Aeris.

“Well Aeris was his child.” Reno said “He knew that Ifalna, Aeris’ mother, wouldn’t live long enough to finish studying so he got her pregnant.”

“What has this got to do with anything?” Cloud asked.

“Just telling what kind of guy Gast is. Well I’m just saying that you were in that Shin-ra mansion in Nibelheim for over a year after supposedly killing Sephiroth . . . oh don’t look so surprised. I was there for over half of the time that you were in that tank and I was the head of the team sent to bring you back or kill you whichever suited us. I wasn’t actually there I just told the soldiers to disable you so you could be brought back in. How was I to know that they would go a little overboard in killing your friend and leave you for dead? I still don’t know how you’re still alive. When I carried you back to the mansion after finding you and that Girl Tifa wounded, I saw what Sephiroth did to you; he got you damn good. It was a miracle that you’re still alive.”

“I don’t take too kindly to the idea of dying.”

“Hey neither do I.”

They sat in silence for the rest of the flight. Cloud botched the landing a bit but he did no serious damage to the plane or it’s passengers. Reeve met them as he stepped off of the ladder coming down from the Highwind’s deck. Cid was right. It didn’t look good at all. And the engines were making coughing and sputtering noises.

“We have to find out why Professor Gast want’s Junon” Reeve said

“He said that he needed the laboratory in it.” Reno answered him

“Hmmm . . . I wonder what he’s up to.” Reeve stroked his chin in his wondering.

Cloud leaned against the side of the biplane. He had an odd sense that he was needed somewhere else. Like something was trying to pull him somewhere. The feeling was so strong that he felt a little dizzy.

“ Hey” Reeve said to him. “ Are you alright?”

“Fine I just need rest I guess it’s been a long day and I need sleep.” Cloud said. It wasn’t entirely a lie.

Reeve led the way followed by Cloud Cid Reno and about seventy soldiers. They were met by Yuffie who was now the head of the city, since Godo had passed away and she had been the only one to ever best him at the top of the tower. She had grown a little and was now turning into a beautiful Young woman, though she still wore her raggedy assortment of armor and strange clothing.

“I already heard what went on at Junon,” She said. “You’re welcome here, and we’ll even fight with you.” She flashed a mischievous grin at Reeve. There’s bound to be something to steal from an entire army ain’t there.”

They set up a bunch of tents for the soldiers, just outside the town, but Reno Cloud Reeve and Cid were given Rooms in Yuffie’s house next to the pagoda. They went to bed without much talk tired from the day’s events. Cloud waited for them to fall asleep then snuck out of the house and headed for the biplane that he and Reno had flown to Wutai in. He had to find out what was pulling him. What was so urgent that e had to be there.

He started the engine and took off, following the pull of god knows what