Woo! Another update! I feel empowered! and tired lol, puppies have a lot of energy. Anyway I want to thank everyone who reviewed and kept me motivated so I could push out another chapter today. Hope you like it! Keep reviewing!

"So you see, he kinda needs a place to stay until the new recruits come in. I can come down here and have him fill out the paperwork, and they don't ask where you live, just the general area where they come from. And it would be believable that he came from the western continent and was camping out in the slums until the exams. And hey! He can pretend to be a hare while he's at your house so Elmyra doesn't get upset! Say you found him or something." Zack beamed at Aerith as the cetra smiled back at him.

"Just tell me one thing Zack. What is he?" Zack hesitated momentarily, eyeing the rafters warily. "The turks aren't here at present. Come on Zack, just tell me. Is he an experiment or something?" Zack smiled and shook his head.

"He's a sorcerer. Does magic without materia. Heck, he doesn't even know what materia is. Honestly, I don't think you'd even believe the whole story if I told you."

"Try me."

"…He's from the future." Aerith stared at Zack incredulously for a moment before they both cracked up.

"Well, I can hear the planet speak, so anything's possible right?"

"Yea-Cloud? Hey are you ok?" Zack looked around Aerith at the blonde kneeled in the flowers. His wings had come out and he seemed to be squinting at something. Aerith turned and gasped, taking in the wings. Cloud suddenly gasped, his body seizing up. Zack ran forward, stopping at the edge of the pit as Cloud's wings glowed brilliantly before seeming to burst, disappearing. Cloud fell forward, unconscious as Zack ran to his side, crouching beside him. He reached out only to have his hand caught by Aerith. He looked up at her only to receive a head shake.

"Someone's talking to him. We must not interfere." Zack nodded sedately, sitting back and looking at Cloud as he lay surrounded by the soft petals of Aerith's flowers.

Cloud looked around, alarmed. There was darkness everywhere. It seemed he was standing on something solid, but the ground was as black as everything else. It reminded him of when he had fallen through the wyrm hole. Was this the void?

A tinkling sound caused Cloud to turn, peering into the darkness that was at his back. Soft green tendrils slowly advanced on him, twirling and twining together as if thread. Cloud tried to back up as they came towards him, only to find they quickly passed him. The green grew, blanketing the area in a soft glow. Cloud lifted his arms as some twisted around the limbs, crawling over his gloves and lightly caressing the feathers on his bracers.

'My child…' Cloud looked up, finding the owner of the voice to be a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She had to have been a celestial, the green threads were coming from her, her golden armor reflecting everything brilliantly. The spear and shield she held were rather menacing at her side, both much bigger than he, and heavier too.

'I have found you at last…' She continued. Cloud stared at her, breathless. Who was this?

'Found me?' Cloud asked, looking questionably at her.

'A child, born of the mountains, stolen from his time, returned home at last…I have been searching for thee…' She melodic voice whispered, though her lips did not move.

'Who…?' Cloud walked forward slightly, seemingly pulled.

'Minerva, my child…You have returned…but with great dangers after you…'

'Ultimecia?'

'Yes, my child. This child stealer is still after thee…even when he has come home…'

'What should I do? My magic…it is only for healing…I can't defend myself from her…' Cloud shook his head. What good could he do? He ran and healed, that was it.

'Lies…You…a child from Nibel…possess the strongest of all magic's…you are limitless in your abilities…you must only find your soul and you shall conquer all…become my spear against the calamity from the skies…and I shall be your shield…from the child stealer…'

'Calamity from the skies?'

'Jenova, the humans call her…a false goddess…a false cetra…cleanse us of her…and her taint shall follow…the wounds will heal…the compression stalled…do this…my child…and no harm shall befall thee…on my shield I swear…' Cloud nodded, dazed. He could do this for her, the Goddess, if she could protect him from Ultimecia.

Minerva smiled and nodded her head. She disappeared in a burst of light, the green quickly surrounding Cloud as he gasped and flailed.

Cloud awoke with the sensation of falling, bolting upright. A startled gasp chimed in at his left and a relieved sigh from his right. Cloud looked around and saw Aerith and Zack sitting on either side of him, both looking relieved. Zack lunged forward, pulling Cloud into a fierce hug.

"Spike don't ever scare me like that again. What happened? Are you hurt?" Zack pulled back to look at him. Cloud smiled and shook his head.

"I'm fine." Cloud debated for a moment before deciding to tell them what he had seen. "I had heard whisperings around here when we entered. I asked them who they were before I collapsed. There was a woman with blonde hair surrounded by green in an endless abyss of black. She called herself Minerva. She warned me that Ultimecia was still looking for me. She said if I cleansed the planet of the 'Calamity from the Skies' that her taint would be removed from the planet and that would stop Ultimecia from reaching here. She kept saying I was the child from Nibel that was stolen from her." Cloud breathed and looked to the two. Aerith looked happy, her green eyes looking relieved. Zack looked overwhelmed.

"Well at least we know where you'll be from in your paperwork. Nibelheim's on the western continent, and it's cold there." Aerith giggled before turning to Zack.

"He can stay with me."

"Really?"

'Mhm. If the planet is willing to talk to him, he can't be bad."

"Thanks Aerith!"

Zack stayed with the two of them for a few hours, leaving just before lunch after he was sure Cloud and Aerith were comfortable with each other. Cloud found he rather liked this girl, and the fact she was a cetra, which was like a centra, made it easier to relax around her. Though, if what Minerva had said was true, he really wasn't a centra at all if he was originally from here and was somehow stolen and taken into the future. Cloud wasn't sure how that would have been possible.

He helped Aerith with tending the flowers, surprised none were bent or trampled after he had collapsed on them. The action was soothing, and Cloud found that in doing so worked up the light fragrance the flowers held.

They stopped work to head to a place called Wall Market to eat, after Cloud morphed his rather bizarre clothes to something he had seen others wear back in his time…or not his time but the time he grew up in. It was a get up of baggy black pants tucked into combat boots, a tight shirt of a navy blue color and a cropped leather jacket of a matching black to his pants. He had a bright red belt securing his pants and another draped diagonally across his hips.

He asked Aerith if these clothes were better suited for the time they were in and she could only giggle once more before urging him to follow.

Upon entering the 'Wall Market', Cloud knew with a certainty, he didn't like this place. It wasn't that it was dirty, it was actually remarkably cleaner than the other areas, it was that all the men in the area had a nasty look towards Aerith that instinctively made Cloud move closer to her. This place wasn't safe, at least not for a pretty young woman like Aerith.

Aerith however simply marched on, ignoring (or oblivious) of the attention she received. Cloud followed, taking in the sights, but always having his senses honed in on Aerith and a wall spell tingling at his fingertips.

They made it to the diner unharmed. Cloud however wasn't completely sure this place was safe either. Certainly not hygienic. The tables didn't look like they had been wiped down recently, if ever, the stove was a greasy mess, and the bar was covered in spilled liquor. The slums were truly a horrendous place to live. Why was Aerith here?

They both ordered the special and ate quickly, neither one apparently wanting to stay here. After eating they walked around a bit more, Aerith taking a quick stop in a dress shop. Cloud stood by the door as she conferred with the owner, before they left with Aerith beaming.

"See, I had this pink dress tailored there, and I was wondering if he would mind making me another, a red one. It should be done soon. I can't wait!" Cloud smiled at her unabashed happiness. After all, not everyone could simply conjure clothes to wear.

They took a quick stop in the park between sectors 6 and 7. It was abandoned at the moment, leaving only the two young adults. It looked safe enough to play on, as long as the kids avoided the big chunks of metal lying around the outskirts.

"So Cloud. Zack says your from the future?"

"Yea." Cloud answered, once again wondering if that was true anymore.

"What's it like?" Aerith questioned. Cloud paused before thinking.

"Well…there aren't too many large places like Midgar. The most advanced city is a place called Esthar. They aren't too keen on visitors though. They have their entire continent fenced in and the city if more often then not cloaked to be invisible. Timber is small, but has a lot of train stations heading to all the other places on that continent. Dollet, though bigger than Timber, is like a sleepy village. Galbadia is the reigning power, they have an enormous army, a missile base and prison in the middle of the desert and virtually owns every other place.

"Winhill is a very small town in the middle of nowhere with only two streets. Very pretty flowers though, or so the books depict it that way. Balamb is on a small island, it's a port town but not many people go there. There an underwater railway to Timber though. My favorite though is Trabia. It's up north. It's where I grew up. Snow as far as the eye could see. Whether plains, forests or mountains, everything is covered. It's also the home of the Shumi tribe. I'm not sure what they are exactly, they live underground, but they are a very advanced people. You Don't hardly ever see them leave the village. And lastly there's Fisherman's Horizon. It's like a floating city in the middle of the ocean. It had a railway connecting the Galbadia continent with Esthar, though it no longer runs….I wish I could have seen these places myself." Cloud whispered the last part, not meaning to say it aloud. Books can describe places very well with facts you might never have heard of before, and pictures were good, but they could only do so much.

"You've never been to any of these places?" Aerith questioned, looking sad.

"I ran all the time. Those gifted with my powers are not often welcomed. I slept under the stars each night. I walked through plains and forests and deserts. I've seen the world, but not the cities. It was…lonely. I hope, to change that now that I'm here."

'I just want to be accepted, loved, cherished.'

'I simply want a knight of my own. If nothing else, that will make me happy.'