Disclaimer: I do not own FF Vii; I only own Crimson and the children of the Chars of FF Vii.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hojo looked down at the sleeping figure next to him, watching as the wings twitched and listening to the soft breathing, relaxed and regulated. The figure was a girl, with jet black hair – almost like his own- and pointed ears. Her flame colored dragon wings glowed dimly in the dark. She buried her face into Hojo's chest and let out a soft snore, almost as if she had finally gotten rid of the nightmares that plagued her. He smiled softly. She had warmed him up a bit, allowing him to be a lot nicer, at least to her. She was HIS child, after all. Someone else lay beside him, or at least was lying beside him, until the young child had crawled in between them and started sobbing. The child's name was Crimson Nightmare. He wasn't sure why Lucrecia had insisted on the last part of her name, he was just content with Crimson, which is what he usually called her. Crimson sometimes took after her mother, but also enjoyed acting just like Hojo. She often took his lab jacket, insisting on wearing it. She also carried around a comb, in which she would bring to the lab; just so she could throw it at Gast. He grinned, remembering the incident. She had yelled "COMB YOUR HAIR!" at Gast when she threw the damned thing. He stifled his laughter at the memory. He closed his eyes, only to open them again, when the crying of a young child was heard.

Dammit!, Hojo thought frustrated. It was their newborn child, Sephiroth. He looked up at Lucrecia. She didn't move, not an inch. Her eyes were closed, and no breathing could be heard from her.

Crimson stirred as Sephiroth continued to cry. She got up, walking to the door, with Hojo following. He grabbed a baby bottle and put it into a microwave. Crimson could be heard in Sephiroth's room, singing softly. The song she sung was from the band called Nickleback. He recognized the tune, but he didn't think that his son would like it. Surprisingly, Sephiroth stopped crying and began to giggle and clap his hands. He seemed to like the tune. Grinning broadly, he turned to the room and stood in the door way, watching; stunned as Crimson rocked Sephiroth back and forth; still singing.

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
When nobody died...

He watched as Sephiroth quieted down. Stunned he checked the bottle to see how hot it was and then began to feed the baby. Crimson walked sleepily towards Hojo and Lucrecia's room.

Upon reaching the room, Hojo stood still as Crimson shook her mother. She was crying, and kept trying to wake her up. Hojo's heart stopped. Something was not right, he knew it. He glanced at the still body; dread building up inside of him. Running over to the bed, he roughly pushed Crimson out of the way, knocking her into the bedside table. A crash was heard and the sound of someone crying. He looked at Lucrecia, shaking her and started calling her name. Over and over. He made a quick glance over to his daughter, noting that she was hurt pretty badly. He then turned his attention back to his wife. He picked her up, and held her close; sobbing and rocking back and forth. Crimson's eyes flashed a fiery color, but returned to the red color, they had been before. In her mind someone spoke.

"You need to call for an ambulance! You may still have time to save your Ka-san!" She searched her mind. An image formed in front of her. A demon! The demon had her same hair color, but The hair stood straight up and was messy, its blood red wings were folded on its back, and its eyes were yellow, hidden by a pair of goggles. "Do you want me to call them then?" It seemed to know what was going on. Crimson nodded. "Oh, and my name… is Regret."

Regret took control, and headed for the nearest phone. She dialed 9-1-1. ( She would've called 4-3-7-7)

It was two in the morning. Hojo still held onto Lucrecia when the paramedics arrived. He was sobbing. She couldn't leave him! Not yet! Crimson looked at her father.

"Daddy, is mommy okay?" He turned his tear stained face to her.

"No. Mommy is in a better place now…" Crimson started to cry. Hojo reached for her, pulling his daughter into an embrace. "Shhh… it's okay, mommy will be fine. And you still have me…" Crimson looked up at him. She didn't understand.

"But, where did she go? Can we visit her?' She asked. Hojo was numb. He didn't know how to explain this to her. He decided not to answer. He began to cry, too, hugging his daughter, whom clung to his night shirt, both sobbing over the lose of a wife and mother. Neither understood. They didn't know what would happen now…