Author's note: This is a remake of Once Again. I thought the plot needed more details, as well as the characters though the story is pretty much the same. As always, all Final Fantasy VII characters belong to Square-Enix.

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PROLOGUE

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kadaj stood waiting by Wutai's entrance, feeling slightly impatient and very bored. He leaned casually on his bike as he dialed Yazoo's number on his cell phone.

"Boy, are you guys slow. Aren't you done yet?" Kadaj said impatiently.

"Not yet. We're almost done rounding up the children. We'd meet you once we've finished."

"Hurry up then. I can hardly wait for our other appointment," Kadaj grinned evilly.

Yazoo's voice sounded amused. "As always. I can understand your impatience but not to worry. We're almost through here."

"Fine. I'd be waiting for you at the usual spot." Kadaj hung up. He'd just slipped his phone into his pocket when he heard the sound of someone crashing to the ground. He spun around to see a skinny black-haired girl scrambling over the ground to gather several brightly colored orbs that looked suspiciously like materia. Kadaj bent to pick one of the orbs that had came to rest beside his foot and examined it closely. He'd guessed right; the red orb was definitely materia.

"Excuse me, that's mine," Yuffie said tentatively to the silver-haired boy, stretching out her hand.

Kadaj stared at the girl for a moment, then looked down at her hand. After what seemed like several minutes, he placed the materia in her open palm. "Thanks," she said with a tentative smile and slipped the material into her brick-red satchel where, to Kadaj's surprise, were about a dozen materia. It had been impossible for them to find any materia anywhere and to be honest they hadn't really needed it. But it might prove to come in handy.

Kadaj was contemplating whether he should get rid of the girl and take the materia from her when she suddenly asked him a very alarming question.

"Say, have we met before?"

"Not likely," Kadaj said shortly and quickly mounted his bike. This was not the time to blow their cover. But Yuffie wouldn't take that for an answer.

"But you look really familiar. I'm sure we must have met somewhere."

Kadaj was getting annoyed and irritated by her persistence and his anger most have shown in his face as she suddenly looked startled.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I just thought -"

"We haven't met before, final," Kadaj yelled at her. He quickly started his bike and without another word zoomed off.

Yuffie was both surprised and confused as she watched him go. But her surprised state didn't last long as anger quickly took over. Who the hell did he think he was, speaking to her so rudely when she'd only asked him a few questions in a polite manner? Anyway, she didn't have time to think about some ill-mannered guy when she had something far more important in her mind. She pulled out her cell phone and eagerly dialed Cloud's number. But after several attempts with no answer and getting thoroughly exasperated, she decided to leave a message for him. Hopefully, he'd call her once he received her message.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Cloud Strife pulled to a stop in front of the old church in a ruined and destroyed Midgar. He'd lived here ever since he discovered had geostigma in his body. His discreet departure from Tifa, Marlene and Denzel had been very painful but he needed time to be by himself. It was strange that this old church was the one place where he felt at peace and could find surcease for his tormented soul. Was it because of Aerith?

His cell phone beeped, signaling that he had a new message. Cloud sighed when he saw that it was from Yuffie, nevertheless, he decided to hear what she had to say.

Surprise! It's me, Yuffie.

So, hey, all the kids have disappeared from Wutai.

Have you heard anything?

Give me a ring and fill me in, okay?

What does she mean by all the children had disappeared from Wutai? What did she expect him to do, though the whole affair sounded suspicious? One thing for sure was that he wasn't about to hear anything about Wutai from where he was. He slipped the phone into his pocket, determined not to reply. After all, he hardly had any business to do with Wutai.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

For days, Yuffie waited impatiently for Cloud's reply though nothing was forthcoming. She'd been gathering information all over town but no one seemed to know where the children had gone to or who had taken them. She contacted Cid and Tifa but they too didn't know anything about the mysterious disappearance. She wondered why the guy she saw standing by Wutai's entrance kept popping up in her mind every now and then.

After waiting six days, she was beginning to loose hope to get any reply from Cloud or any news from the others when Cid phoned her. She quickly answered the call, speaking hastily before he could explain the reason why he'd called her.

"So, have you found out anything about it?" she asked eagerly.

"Whoa there, wait a sec. I've got interesting news for ya."

"Interesting news?" she repeated suspiciously.

"We've discovered where the children are and who took them."

"Really? You have? Who are they? Where are the children?" she asked excitedly.

"No time to explain details to you at the moment. I'll tell you everything later. We have to get to Edge as soon as possible. Everyone's waiting. I'm coming to fetch you now so get ready."

"Why?"

"Just do as I say for once," Cid said exasperatedly.

"Alright. I'd be waiting for you." Yuffie quickly hung up and rushed to her room to get ready.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yuffie listened attentively as Vincent explained everything to them aboard Shera. What irked her most was that some silver-haired guys who appeared to be with Jenova had not only stolen the children, but taken away all their materia and were harboring a grudge against Cloud. She couldn't let them get away with that. But wait, those silver-haired guys, could they have anything to do with the rude boy she'd seen at Wutai's entrance? He definitely had silvered hair and his arrogant and evasive manner proved that he might have had evil intentions in Midgar.

When they arrived, Edge was already in chaos. Someone had summoned Bahamut and now the city was in an uproar. Yuffie quickly got her parachute on while the others were preparing to descend. One by one, they left Shera. Yuffie didn't waste time to jump down, despite her fear of heights, her shuriken gripped tightly and ready. She landed very close to where Tifa and a cute little boy stood. She quickly got rid of the parachute and after composing herself, turned towards them.

"Alright, you've been touching my materia," she didn't hesitate to say.

"The bad guys, naturally," Tifa said with a small smile.

The memory of the silver-haired boy quickly flashed in her mind and she felt herself getting angry. That jerk! Yuffie made a loud angry sound and dashed to join the others in combat.

She fought to the best of her capabilities. Bahamut proved to be very tough to deal with and even Cid and Vincent were having problems with him. She was highly relieved when she Cloud come to the rescue. A small smile touched her lips as she watched him take on Bahamut alone. He hadn't changed at all since last they met.

Cloud gave Bahamut a very hard blow and Bahamut fell with a loud angry sound. Getting up, he roared, a blue mist forming in his mouth as he suddenly started rising to the air. Cloud quickly went after him. Barret was first to give him support, followed by Cid who helped him mount higher into the air. Yuffie was determined to help Cloud the best she could. After Red had given his own support, Yuffie quickly appeared, giving Cloud a boost. Yuffie watched as Cloud met up with Bahamut, her heart hammering against her chest. After several seconds, Cloud finally managed to defeat Bahamut. Yuffie let out a relieved breath but it seemed that all wasn't over as Cloud quickly went away to get his bike.

"Yuffie, let's go. It's starting," Vincent called to her.

Yuffie nodded, her face serious, as they hurried quickly to board Shera.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yuffie waited impatiently as Cid maneuvered Shera towards the area in ruined Midgar where Cloud and the silver-haired boy were fighting. She was carrying an armful of materia and she couldn't wait to give it to him and also help him out in the battle. She spotted Cloud and the sight of him made her grow excited.

"Cloud, I brought you materia." Shera made a jerky movement that almost made her loose her balance and spill all her materia. She yelled at Cid, "Hey, watch it."

Even Barret was showing his impatience but Vincent spoke up, explaining the situation and who the boy actually was. Yuffie was shocked when she heard that Kadaj was a sort of larvae and a remnant of Sephiroth and expressed her shock verbally. When Vincent went further in his explanation and said they should leave Cloud to fight this battle, Yuffie was completely lost. She was even wondering why Tifa agreed with him. Why shouldn't they help Cloud out?

After displaying her annoyance when no one would explain to her what was going on, Tifa further explained it to everyone. Finally understanding, she couldn't help but add a comment of her own about Cloud and Tifa smilingly couldn't help answering back.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They watched the entire battle and where ecstatic when Cloud won and the battle was over. Yuffie couldn't hide her jubilation but deep down, she felt a tiny twinge of regret as she watched Kadaj fade away. She didn't know why she should care about someone she barely know, especial someone as evil as him.

Their jubilation instantly switched to shock and horror as the watched Cloud taken by a sudden explosion. Yuffie was terribly shocked to a point that she could barely concentrate on anything that was going on around her for several minutes, even when they disembarked Shera. But she was able to come out partially from her shocked state when Tifa told the others that they should all go to the ruined church in Midgar. Marlene, and some of the children, had heard Aerith's voice. She'd told them that Cloud would be in the old church. Yuffie was confused but didn't say anything as they went there, though hope sprang inside her. To her surprise several people, many of them children, were already there waiting. And what Marlene and the other children said was very true; Cloud was indeed waiting for them, lying unconsciously in a pool of water. He woke up, looking around him with confusion. They couldn't help smiling and throwing heartfelt comments at him.

It was a very memorable day for Yuffie. All the children were cured of geostigma. She could see the happiness clearly expressed in the faces of all the people gathered there and she thought vaguely about Kadaj's short existence. She wondered why she couldn't get him rooted out of her mind. It unnerved her but she couldn't help herself. It seemed very strange indeed that her first encounter with him had left such a lasting impression on her.

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Note on chapter: This chapter is a quick summary of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and introduction to the story. I know this chapter is too simple but it's difficult writing anything based directly on the movie's plot. Anyway, the future chapters promise to be way more exciting.