Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is property of Square-Enix. I write this for my own enjoyment, and intend no infrigement or profit.

Summary: AVALANCHE saved the world. That's all that matters...right?

(This story is unfinished, and therefore is subject to sudden and brutal revision. Be warned.) After reading many, many FFVII fics, I came to a startling conclusion. There were precious few after-game fics that didn't end with everyone being praised and living happily ever after, etcetera ad nauseum. Only a handful actually spoke of the direct after effects of the ending, which left everyone confused and in suspense, I'm sure. I, bored out of my skull and curious at the same time (never a good combination), decided to write a story about it. Now, I realize the plot moves slowly. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure where it's going, if it's going anywhere. There's no grand scheme, no huge evil to thwart, no single person or thing that threatens the lives of our fair heroes. Really, when do problems in the real world ever boil down to one sole person calling all the shots? Life rarely works that wayway - thank God, reality only seems to spawn a few of them every century or so - and that's what the difference I want to try and stress in this. The point of this storyisn't about how AVALANCHE saves the world - it's about how AVALANCHE savesitself from the world. For whatever it's worth, I hope you enjoy.

Also, there were a lot of questions about this during earlier chapters, and I seemed to have erased my little speech, so I'll re-clarify right here. This is not - I repeat, not - a Cid/Yuffie. Is not, nor will it ever be. There is such a thing as platonic love, and furthermore, simply because two main characters happen to be a man and a woman does not automatically mean that they're going to jump in the sack together. Especially not Cid and Yuffie, because that's just...ew. The extremely disgusting brand of 'ew'. Got it? Okay, good. :) Now, anywho, enjoy the story.

Update: Okay, so Hero's been on hiatus for about...two years. I can't say that it will be officially taken off of hiatus, even though I've updated (finally), but I've been chipping away at the plot and whatnot for the past year or so, so it's never been gone from my mind. But, I'm lazy and it takes me forever to write, as is currently noted, so only now is all that work and whatnot beginning to come to light. I'm such a dork.:ahem: Carry on.

Due to the release of AC and DoC, this is now considered AU. Which sucks. :(

If you wish to leave any constructive criticism, feel free to do so at my e-mail address.