Barret grunted. “Shoulda known
You’re just a useless bum
So we’ll do it my way
Let’s just charge in, start a scrum”

“That’s your plan?” scoffed Tifa
As she firmly held her ground
“Fight your way through ev’ry floor?
Let’s find a way around

“What about those stairs?” she said
While Barret’s path she blocked
“I know it sounds impossible
But maybe they’re unlocked”

Barret: “Take the long way ‘round?
No! Go straight for the throat”
Tifa: “Cloud, it’s up to you
You’re the deciding vote”

Now, in these situations
Cloud’s choice oft was bright and clear
But this time . . . “Sorry, Tifa
Gotta go with Barret here”

The party clasped on to the wire
It held their weight quite well
The punks cheered, jeered, told them they’d fall
Cloud shot back, “Go to Hell!”

The wire twisted up and up
Through wreckage of the plate
Cloud’s batt’ries proved so useful
That it almost seemed like fate

Finally they reached the top
Cut through alley and street
‘Til o’er their heads rose Shinra Tow’r
At least eight hundred feet

“Okay, Mr. SOLDIER”
Barret said without delay
“Since you should be the expert here
I’ll let you lead the way”

Cloud tried to mask his ignorance
In truth, he’d never been
“I know this place like back of hand
Now . . . how do we get in?”

With no ideas, they wandered ‘round
Got to Wall Market, late
Maybe there they’d find a way
To reach the upper plate

“‘Sides, this ain’t just a wire
See?  It’s golden, full of hope”
“Yeah, whatever,” grumbled Cloud
“Just head on up, you dope”

He was playing with Marlene
“Daddy!  Your whiskers tickle!
Oh!  Hi Cloud!  D’you like that girl?”
Which left Cloud in a pickle

Still, they had no other choice
Told Marlene to watch out
“Now!  To Shinra HQ, quick!”
But no one knew the route

“Oh, the war,” said Tifa
“Yes, that’s what I thought, at first
Then I heard about the lab
And came to fear the worst

Tifa tapped Cloud discreetly
They would leave her to her grief
They snuck up to see Barret
A man filled with relief

“Knew this day would come,” she said
Her voice filled with regret
“My daughter’s been fleeing them
Oh . . . ever since we met”

“Met?” said Tifa, puzzledly
“A funny thing to say”
“Aeris did not meet me ‘til
Long past her first birthday”

“This’ll be long, won’t it?”
Cloud asked, stifling a groan
He was wishing he had brought
A flask to call his own

“This was way back in the war”
The mom said with a sigh
“My husband was at the front
Some place they called Wutai

“One day I got a message
That my man was home on leave
I waited on, for days and days
Ne’er him I did perceive

“There at the train station
Was a woman, destitute
I have to say, my first thought was
She was a prostitute

“With her was a young girl
For her sake she did implore
‘Help my daughter Aeris’
Then the mother was no more”

They worked their way back through the slums
To th’incongruous glen
Inside they found Aeris’ mom
“Oh look. It’s you again

“Sit down. Make yourselves at home
Enjoy a cup of tea
And tell me why it’s not your fault
They took my girl from me”

Cloud began the blame game
“It’s all Barret’s fault, you see”
Barret countered with, “Oh yeah?
Who brought her there? Not me!

“Ah, go ahead and blame me
I just came here for one thing”
“Your daughter is safe up there”
Barret up stairs did spring

Aeris’ mom ignored the tea
Instead pulled out a flask
“Are . . . you alright?” Cloud felt the need
To hesitate to ask

Cloud, in fact, had wandered off
He did not care, as such
Sector Seven being gone
Did not affect him much

Aeris, on the other hand
Weighed heav’ly on his mind
Was’t his running into her
That put her in this bind?

“Cloud! Yo, Cloud!” yelled Barret
Who still sounded quite distressed
“You’re taking us to Aeris’ place!”
It was not a request

Tifa scowled. “Don’t be rude
We’ve all been through a lot
We really have to hold on tight
To the friends we’ve still got”

“Come on, Tifa, cut the sap
Don’t make us sound so lame
I don’t care what Barret says
I’d go there just the same

“I’m gonna help Aeris
I’m sort of her bodyguard”
Thinking ‘bout his reward
Made the choice not at all hard

“Also, I’m real curious
About these . . . Ancient . . . things”
In his head, a voice: “Well, yeah
In here that a bell rings”

“I . . . I don’t know,” choked Tifa
“I’m not sure I can go on
Wedge and Biggs, Jess, everyone
I can’t believe they’re gone

“What we did was good, I thought
We tried Shinra to halt
I never thought they’d go this far
Is all of it our fault?”

Barret laughed. “Oh yeah, I’m sure
That we’re who Shinra blames
As for me, I’m kickin’ ass
Not both’rin’ to take names

“Our fault? Their fault? I don’t care
All that is in the past
All I know is that my gun
Needs some revenge, and fast

“The Shinra took my girl from me
And for that they will pay
So even if it takes my life
I’ll bring them judgment day”

“Barret, wait! That isn’t true!”
To stop him she did strive
“Remember that girl? She did say
That Marlene’s still alive”

“The hell? What were you waiting for?
Why didn’t you say so?
I’ve got to see her right away
Hey, Cloud . . . now where’d Cloud go?”

The world was filled with awful noise
And then in silence passed
Until the air was once more rent
By a horrific blast

Barret’s shouts came to a head
He opened fire: POW!
Rage expended, he whipped round
“So!  What do we do now?”