"Do you think Dio will be here?" I asked as we entered the Battle Square lost in my own happiness that seemed inevitable due to the bright lights and cheerful music. Suddenly I felt Cloud grip my arm and I stopped dead when I saw a man in front of me keeled over. I extended my hand to him and was about to ask if he was ok when he dropped to the floor covered in blood and bullet wounds. I couldn't believe it, was death to follow us everywhere we went, even here!

"Mm? Dead..." Cloud whispered as he inspected the body, he then got up and started to move towards the entrance to the Battle Arena.

"What? Wa... wait Cloud!" I shouted as I chased after him. He was being incredibly foolish just walking in, especially as the wounds of the man looked so fresh. Whatever it was that killed him was probably still here.

On entering the Battle Arena I was confronted by a sight that was almost becoming normal but never tolerable since Cloud, the others and I had started this journey. All around the room were dead bodies, scarlet blood flowing from their wounds. Cloud was looking around the room clearly shaken.

"Did Sephiroth do this? No... it's not him... They're all shot... Sephiroth would never use a gun..." he said speaking my own thoughts. I suddenly heard a noise coming from one of the bodies, I looked around and noticed one of them moving slightly. The man was still alive, though barely.

"Ugh, ugggh." He groaned as he coughed up blood. Cloud, Cait Sith and I ran over to him.

"Hey, what happened!" Cloud asked gently.

"Ugh... ugh... a man with a gun... on his arm..." The man uttered before shutting his eyes, the rising and falling of his chest stopped and with that we knew he was gone leaving us with his haunting words.

"A gun on his arm?" I said turning to Cloud who looked as confused and frightened as I felt. I knew Barret was upset but he wanted to protect the innocent… he would never…

"Hold it right there! And stay quiet!" Screamed an enraged voice. I stood up and turned around quickly to see Dio and his men. It occurred to me how bad this must look. "Did you guys do this?" He shouted. He looked so angry I instantly knew there would be no getting through to him.

"N... no, it wasn't us!" Cloud protested.

"I must've been wrong..." Dio said looking down. I then felt Cait Sith' pushing me.

"Hurry and run, it's gonna get ugly." He warned. I looked around and noticed the guards hadn't lowered their weapons and were slowly advancing.

"Hey!" Cloud protested but he may as well have been speaking to a deaf man. As far as they were concerned we were guilty.

"Hold them!" Dio shouted. We tried to run but we were surrounded. "That's as far as you go." Dio said with a smile. Suddenly this fat man in a thong was our judge, jury and executioner.

"Wait," Cloud said once again hoping to reason with them. I didn't want to fight either, as un fair as these people were being they were not our enemy and genuinely seemed to think they were punishing murderers. "listen to..."

"Cloud..." Cait Sith interrupted him. We all looked up to see robots of some kind approaching us. They were huge and looked really strong. I tried to back away but they grabbed us. All of a sudden fighting wasn't even an option and I wasn't sure if they were going to kill us there and then. I struggled to breathe under the robots tight grip. Things had already started to go blurry and struggling wasn't helping. I could see Dio talking to a cop and I heard Cloud inhale a deep breath.

"Hey! Pay attention!" He screamed in one final effort to prove our innocence.

"There's no need to listen. Pay for your crime down below!" Dio said evenly. He then turned to the cop. "Do it!" he commanded.

Suddenly the robots let us go and we started to fall. I could finally breathe but the relief was soon replaced with pain as I hit the ground.

I opened my eyes, it was bright… very bright and very hot. I sat up and inspected my hands and knees. A few scratches but nothing major. I ran my fingers over the soft sand. That was probably the reason why the fall hadn't been too bad. I looked over at Cloud and Cait Sith who were slowly getting up.

"Are you all right?" I said to Cloud as I dusted myself off. He simply nodded then looked around him.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"A desert prison... Corel Prison..." Was Cait Sith's gloomy response. I covered my face with my hands and sighed. As if the prospect of one of my best friends going on a rampage and turning against their own beliefs wasn't enough to deal with.

"A desert prison?" I heard Cloud ask.

"Yup, a natural prison in the middle of the desert...

surrounded entirely by quicksand." Cait Sith explained. "I heard that once you get in, you never get out... But, there was one special exception..." He said. At the mention of a possible escape I uncovered my eyes to look at Cait Sith but something in the distance behind him caught my eye, a familiar shape…

"Barret?" I shouted loud enough for him to hear and look over at us. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or afraid… he was my friend, I trusted him more than I did anyone. I had to hear what he had to say before I passed any sort of judgement. I started to run towards him when Cloud grabbed my arm.

"Barret... Did he really..." he whispered in my ear. I put my hand over his mouth instantly. I didn't want to hear it, I wanted to hear what Barret had to say.

"Lets just go talk to him Cloud, I know he isn't a cold blooded killer." I said gently as I moved my hand away from his mouth. Cloud's grip on me loosened and he nodded.

"Ok… you know him better than I do and I trust your judgement. Let's go." Cloud said as he put his arm around me.

"Stay back! This's something I gotta deal with. Jes' leave me

alone..." Barret suddenly shouted. My heart sank and I was suddenly really afraid. What could possibly be so terrible that he would want to keep us away, especially after all the terrible things we had seen together.

"Whew! That's one of your friends? He sure looks dangerous..." Cait Sith whispered. He had suddenly appeared by my side, I had forgotten he was even with us.

"...Barret..." I said gently but he kept walking away. I felt Cloud squeeze my shoulder but it was little comfort. I turned to face him, his eyes looked sympathetic. "I…I don't understand." I said blinking back tears. Cloud crouched down a little so his face was on the same level as mine.

"It's going to be ok, do you remember when I went to walk out of Seventh Heaven and you chased after me?" He asked as he brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I nodded but kept my eyes on the floor. "I needed you then even if I wasn't acting like it. People like Barret and I… we are proud and we can't really admit it when we need our friends so we go and hide all alone getting more and more angry. I think he needs you now even if he isn't acting like it." Cloud said as he pulled me in close and hugged me. I closed my eyes and pushed my fear and sorrow to the back of my mind.

"You're right… you are so right Cloud… thank you." I said as I looked up at him and smiled before standing on my toes and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He was a lot more perceptive than he let on and seemed to be becoming a lot more sensitive.

"So lets go find him!" Cait Sith said with a grin.

After walking round the area trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone we found Barret in a house that seemed to be close to falling apart. He turned as we entered the room pointing his gun at us.

"Didn't I tell you not to come here?" He screamed, he was shaking all over, I wasn't afraid anymore. I wanted to comfort him and to understand.

"Ju... just hold on for a second! We just want to talk! You'll understand if you just hear us out!" Cait Sith stuttered, his hands were raised and he looked terrified. Barret suddenly pointed his gun at a corner of the room and shot. I jumped at the loud bangs then the body of a man fell out from behind the book case he was aiming at. I felt sick but at the same time I was impressed at Barrets skill.

"Didn't want none of ya to get involved..." He said looking down at the floor. His tone was a lot softer. I was about to ask him why he was being like this when Aeris, Yuffie and Red walked in.

"Hey that's Cloud's line! ...It's too dangerous, I can't let you

get involved... 'blah, blah blah..." Came Aeris' squeaky voice.

"Yeah. We're already involved in this." I added.

"We saw you and hurried here. Barret, just tell us what's going

on." Aeris demanded. Barret seemed to relax, he looked really depressed and tired.

"You guys..." he whispered.

"I heard that the murders at the Battle Arena were done by a

man with a gun-arm. ...Was that you?" Red asked in a calm tone. He seemed almost unaffected by the whole thing. Barret sighed deeply.

"There's another... another man that got a gun grafted inta on of his arms. It was four years ago..."

We all listened to Barrets tragic story. I couldn't believe I was learning so many new things about my friend. There was so much he had kept hidden from us and I felt like I was only really getting to know him now.

"From then on, I couldn't use my right arm no more. ...I was depressed for a while. But then I threw away my artificial arm and got this gun grafted in. Got a new right arm to get revenge on the Shinra, who took everything away...Back then, I heard the doc say there was another man who got the same operation as me. But, his was the left arm." He concluded. Finally I fully understood why. I always thought he just hated what they were doing to the people but like me Barret had a much deeper much more personal reason for hating Shinra.

"But... Dyne's injury was the same as yours, right?" Aeris said.

"Yeah, that's right. He was deceived by the Shinra, too. He'll probably join us to fight against the Shinra." I said trying desperately to find the silver lining to Barrets dilemma.

"...wouldn't bet on it. I gotta 'pologize to Dyne before I can rest in peace. An' that's why, I gotta go alone." Barret said quietly. I wrapped my arms around myself as I contemplated the situation. This man was clearly dangerous and possibly insane. He had already killed so many people… what would he do to my friend.

"Do whatever you want..." Came Cloud's voice from the corner of the room. "Is that what you want to hear? Well, I can't let you do it. Because, if you die on me, I'm gonna have nightmares." He said in a very matter of fact tone. I looked over at him and smiled. I wanted to go over and kiss him there and then. He really did care and that alone meant so much to me.

"Barret, this isn't the end." Aeris said trying to sound comforting.

"Weren't you going to save the Planet?" I asked folding my arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Shit! Tifa, you oughtta know by now." He said, a look of guilt in his eyes.

"...That's all right. I'm not so different from you." I said as I gave him a small smile. We weren't all that different at all really. We both wanted to save the world from the evil that had ruined our lives and nothing was going to stop us.

"So there it is, Barret. So I guess it'll be Barret, me, and Tifa." Cloud said. The rest of you try to work on a way of getting out of here while we solve Barrets unresolved business.

"Um… could you guys give us a minute please?" I asked quietly. Cloud looked a little surprised but he nodded his head.

"Um yeah sure… we'll just be outside." He said. He pressed his lips to my ear and took hold of my right hand as they all made their way out of the house. "Be your gentle, understanding self… it's what he needs," he whispered. I nodded and squeezed his hand. He had been amazing through this whole thing. I was now surer than ever that he was the one I wanted to be with.

"Tifa…" Barret started but he just looked at the floor.

"Why did you omit that bit of the story back at the station? You always said you lost your arm in a shooting accident." I said avoiding eye contact. I was starting to feel like Barret and Cloud were both keeping things from me.

"Tifa… some memories hurt too much to face even when you're trying to be totally honest. You must have felt the same when Cloud was telling your story." He said quietly. I nodded my head and finally we both looked up at each other and smiled.

"It's going to be ok you know… no matter how he reacts to seeing you, Cloud and I are here and we still care about you." I said as I went over and hugged him.

The group and I were sat on some large rocks in the prison in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. The fight between Dyne and Barret was awful. The man was completely mad, his insanity reminded me of Sephiroth but on a much simpler level. We were now waiting for Cloud to win the Chocobo races and get us out of this hell hole.

With all the drama going on I hadn't had time to take in my surroundings. Everyone in the prison seemed insane and for some reason it seemed as if all of their staring eyes were fixed on me. I shuddered and shuffled a little closer to Barret who was sat next to me absentmindedly playing with the pendant Dyne had given to him.

"What if Cloud doesn't win?" Yuffie asked as she threw a rock at one of the larger ones (a game she had been playing for the past ten minutes).

"Don't worry he will," I said as I picked up a small rock and threw it at the large rock.

"Yeah but what if he doesn't…and we're stuck here for ever and we have nothing to do all day but play with rocks and fight with those weirdoes for our amusement?" Yuffie asked as she gestured to a group of prisoners. We both looked at each other and giggled at the ridiculous prospect.

"Whats so funny!" Aeris asked which only caused Yuffie and I to giggle more.

"Ahem!" Came an unfamiliar voice. We looked up to see a short blonde man stood in front of us looking down at a clipboard he was holding through his large round glasses. "Are you Barret, Tifa, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Red and Aeris?" He asked reading our names from a list. We all stood up quickly, this looked very promising.

"Yes…" I answered and I held my breath waiting for his response.

"Your friend a Mr Cloud won the races… you're all free to go." He said as he looked up from his clipboard and smiled at me. I exhaled a sigh of relief as Yuffie hugged me screaming in excitement.

"We get to goooo we get to gooo!" She sang as we followed the blonde man to the platform. "Hahaha you all have to staaaaay!" She sang pointing at some of the prisoners we were passing. I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her beside me.

"Honey you don't want to die on your way out of here do you?" I whispered.

"Aaaaww Tifa you know we could take them!" Yuffie said as she playfully poked me. She was probably right but I still felt a lot better when we were on the platform going up and safely away from the desert prison.