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A/N: I don't own anything. I just like to change the story around to my liking.
This is my first story one this pairing, and I hope you like it. Please R&R, I can handle flames too, but prepare for me to delete them if you can't put a good reason behind why you're giving me a hard time. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Hostage
He readied himself for the feeling of an icy drought; the sudden plunge that submerged his body into a wave of cold water. He shivered under the covers, waiting for the whispers in his head to start taunting him. His whole being was exhausted, but he knew his mother was restless. She called for him and he had no choice but to answer her, feeling her presence wrap itself around his conscious. He bit his lower lip, he hated that feeling of entrapment that she seemed to put on him, and yet excitement was welling up inside him - he had some good news for her.
Kadaj...
'Mother,' Kadaj replied to her, his thoughts were caught halfway between conscious and unconsciousness. His mother could only reach him during this temporary state of mind, and she could hold him there for however long she desired.
Have you progressed? I feel your excitement.
'I have,' he thought, oblivious to the faint smile on his face. Something shifted in reality, but his mother wouldn't let that distract him from her. He quickly forgot about it, and continued, 'I think I know where they hid you. Mother, the reunion is coming!'
You think?
Kadaj froze in mid-thought. He could sense his mothers growing frustration, it layered her tone and dripped off every word. Mentally, he shrunk away from her. He hated it when she was angry. And most of all, he hated it when he was the cause of her anger. He said nothing in reply; he didn't know what to do. He knew she could see his uncertainty like a crimson stain on white carpet. He could feel his heart sinking lower in his stomach.
His mother's presence wrapped around his mind tighter, creating a pulsing headache to begin in his temple. Her wrath was unbearable.
Don't waste my time, Kadaj! I'm tired of waiting for you. If you are wrong, I will be very disappointed!
Kadaj winced at the pain in his head, before Jenova left his mind with that dire warning. He gasped, at the drastic change from unconsciousness to full awareness and sprung up in bed. His eyes snapped open, cold sweat matted his hair to his face. His green cat eyes flashed in the moonlight, and he turned to see if his brothers had been disturbed to find a similar pair of orbs staring back at him.
Yazoo's expression was plain, but Kadaj could tell from the deep thoughtful look in his eyes that he was deeply concerned. Kadaj felt a pang of annoyance over this, and decided to disregard his brother. Instead, he turned his green gaze up at the sky beyond the glowing silver trees, hoping Yazoo would take the hint and stop staring at him. He could feel the heat creeping into his cheeks, and decided that next time mother visited him, he would need to be more careful when he awoke.
"Was it mother, Kadaj?" Yazoo asked, calmly, regarding his brother with a steady gaze.
Kadaj simply nodded and lied back down with his back facing Yazoo. He was not in the mood to talk right now. Their mother was angry with him again, and it left him with a bitter taste in his mouth every time he thought about how far away they were to actually finding her.
He had spoken to the President on the phone earlier only to find out that their mother was in the hands of the traitor, Cloud Strife. It struck him as odd at first. What would a traitor want with their mother? Kadaj had simply assumed that Cloud was trying to throw him off, and prevent him from uniting with mother. Yet, something in the back of his mind told him that mother was not with Cloud.
Guilt swelled in his chest as he realized he might have lied to his mother. He gritted his teeth. The President would surely pay for his mistake in leading Kadaj to a dead end if it was true.
"She's mad again, isn't she?" The question caught Kadaj by surprise. He rolled over to see that Yazoo's eyes glistened in the moonlight, his frown deepening with every passing second. Kadaj wondered why he had asked in the first place. It wasn't their place to question mother, or feel ill towards her. It was their fault she did at all. They were wasting time, and with each passing day they didn't find her was a day that they could have been closer to the reunion.
"Yazoo," Kadaj breathed a warning. Yazoo's gaze misted over with deep thought. Kadaj hated it when Yazoo became submerged in his thoughts. It was dangerous. Yazoo was normally silent, but lately his usual introspection had been working its way out, and he was starting to ask questions Kadaj nor mother took lightly.
Kadaj threw the covers off himself, and stood up, resisting a shiver at the crisp morning air. It was early, very early, but mother wanted them to get on with it. So, they would and sleep would have to wait. He looked down at Yazoo, who's gaze had not bothered to follow him. Instead he found his brother looked off in the distance as if he had been completely oblivious to Kadaj's movements.
"Wake Loz, we're leaving," Kadaj ordered, loudly. He wasn't sure if Yazoo had even really heard him, but he didn't care.
There was a sound of shuffling blankets and Loz's grunt as Yazoo shoved the covers off his brother. Loz made a gurgling sound, before he woke fully, and realized that Kadaj was already standing before him wearing a frown. Upon seeing his brother's eyes open, Yazoo also stood up and faced Kadaj, curiously.
"Where are we going?" he asked. Loz's sleep gaze followed his brothers and landed on Kadaj expectantly.
"To find mother," Kadaj replied, shortly.
"Where's mother? You know where she is?" there was a hint of excitement in Loz's voice at the mention of their mother. He jumped from the covers, his energy already fully renewed. He was ready to get back on track.
"That's why we're going to find her," Kadaj said, irritably. He found that lately his lack of proper sleep was affecting his mood. Yazoo wasn't the only one to note his brother's short fuse, and Loz simply kept his mouth shut after that.
Kadaj picked up Souba from where he had placed it the night before and hitched it to his belt before taking off into the forest again. He could hear his brothers' weary footsteps behind him as he continued to their bikes.
By the time he had reached his, Loz's eyes were half-shut with exhaustion. He didn't know how his little brother could do it, but Kadaj seemed to behold a hidden amount of energy which kept him going like this. Either that, or he was overtired and didn't realize it. He slowly got on his own bike, feeling his brother's gaze on him.
"Wake up, Loz!" Kadaj snapped, "What are you? Human? Only humans need sleep, and we are not as week, so snap out of it!"
Loz would never have admitted it, but he liked to sleep. He knew that Kadaj would probably beat him for saying so, making Loz simply nod and act a little more energetic about being woken up in the middle of the night. But Loz had talked with Yazoo, vaguely, of things in this world he found to like. Sleep was one of them. Did it make him weak to enjoy this simple pleasure?
When he had told this to Yazoo, his brother had only studied him curiously. He had said nothing, which made Loz feel even more insecure about his findings. Was humanity contagious? If so, was he catching on to it?
Loz snapped out of his daydream to find Kadaj and Yazoo staring at him. Yazoo's expression was indifferent, but Kadaj seemed to be fuming. His eyes were narrowed on his older brother suspiciously. Why was he acting like he didn't care about their mission?
"Ready now?" Kadaj growled, dangerously. He could practically read the thoughts coming from Loz's brain – the man was helplessly like an open book.
"Y-yes, I'm sorry, brother," Loz quickly stumbled over his words. However, he hadn't noticed that his choice of words wasn't exactly the most brilliant. Yazoo's widened gaze confirmed this.
Kadaj's glare darkened. "You're sorry?" he hissed. Loz felt he could have hit himself in the head for being so slow at times. "Let me ask you one thing, Loz. What exactly are you sorry about?"
Yazoo winced inwardly at his older brother's slip. He knew Kadaj was observant enough to note the guilt in his words, and Yazoo also knew that the guilt had not simply emerged from slowing them down this morning. He had given Loz a few of his well-researched thoughts about mother and the humans they were supposed to despise, knowing full well that Loz had a big mouth and slow mind. Now, Yazoo was greatly regretting saying anything to his brother, and hoped for both their sakes that Loz would not say anything Kadaj about the thoughts or his own involvement in them.
Again Loz was a little slow to answer Kadaj's question. He could see Kadaj's patience thinning out.
"It doesn't matter," Kadaj had said, before Loz could come up with a feeble reply, "We've wasted enough time here," he added, mimicking his mother's words only hours earlier.
Kadaj started the engine on the bike and took off through the glowing forest, thinking of a path to Midgar where he was sure they would find their eldest brother, Cloud Strife. He let a malicious grin escape him, as he felt the mad excitement take him again. If the President was right, Kadaj would finally be with mother.
He leaned lower over the handle bars, caring little if his brothers could keep up with him. He would soon be with mother, and that was all that mattered to him.
"Yuffie!" Tifa gasped as she watched the young ninja in the midst of balancing six different sized glasses, dropped all but two of them. They crashed and splintered into a thousand small pieces on the scratched wooden floor. Yuffie froze, realizing she had done it again. She went to apologize to Tifa, and ended up dropping the other half of the glasses as well.
"I'm sorry, Tifa!" Yuffie bit her bottom lip awkwardly and looked at the sparkling mess at her feet.
Tifa only shook her head and grabbed the dustbin. She had given up trying to teach the ninja different ways to balance a tray full of expensive glasses and had resorted to giving Yuffie the cheaper pints to deliver instead of the fancy martini glasses she adored. It seemed that her intuition had led her right again, as she cleaned up the broken, cheap, but broken pints.
Yuffie was simply staring down at the mess. She could feel the heat creep up in her cheeks as Tifa's customers shot inquiring looks at her. She had held in her temper as best as she could that night. Only she had swung her server's tray up against the back of some guys head after he attempted to pinch her backside as she walked by. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for this job – it had crossed her mind several times that hour.
"Yuffie, go upstairs and change into some dry clothes and I'll finish up," Tifa said in a tired voice.
Yuffie suddenly realized that she was getting the night off, without pay most probably. She would have to let Tifa give her another chance. How many times now… two… five… oh crap. "Just one more chance, please!?" Yuffie pleaded, but Tifa was too nice to say no and let her glasses get broken again.
"I'm letting you off for the night, but I'll pay you all the same," she said, cursing her soft-heart for hiring her friend in the first place. "So, don't worry."
"I'm so sorry, Tifa!" Yuffie said, "But I'll make it up to you tomorrow. Don't you worry, I'll be the best damn waitress you've ever seen!"
Tifa had to grin at her friend's confidence. On the inside she was wondering why Yuffie didn't just give up and find another job. That was Yuffie, though: never giving up and leaving disaster in her wake.
"Alright, then," Tifa said, as she watched her friend spin around and run up the stairs with a brand new ray of energy vibrating through her.
"Hey! Where's my drink!? I've been waiting forever!"
Tifa sighed, and started back to the bar stand. "Coming, sir," she said, with a little less enthusiasm.
When Yuffie entered the upstairs, Cloud was getting ready for a delivery. He spotted her and a sly look passed his eyes. "Break another one?" he mumbled.
Yuffie sighed and dropped onto the couch with a somber expression. She crossed her arms over her knees and said, "It was an accident! The floor isn't level or something."
"Okay," Cloud said, quietly, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He looked out the window and noticed that the afternoon was already turning to evening.
Yuffie seemed to be fuming over his last comment, and said, "Hey, you know what, I try okay!"
"I didn't say you didn't," Cloud replied, and then he made his way to the door, "Tell Tifa I'll be back later."
"You tell her! Do I look like a messenger to you?" Yuffie crossed her arms and pouted silently.
Cloud only frowned, and left her like that. He closed the door softly behind him and she heard him descend the stairs.
She stood and went to the window figuring that she should probably go and see if there was anymore materia left to be snatched in Midgar. With that thought, she changed into her dry clothes and left out the back door of the bar with her Shuriken in hand.
She sneaked through the backstreets and into Midgar, careful not to run into anyone peculiar especially not with a large ninja star in hand. The last thing she needed was to set someone after her. Not that she'd mind, honestly, she could take anyone any day. They were no match for the Great Ninja Yuffie!
When she had reached Midgar and the edge of the desert waste land, Yuffie spotted the old church and a couple of disintegrating buildings. She was glad the sun was still up, she hated this place at night. It was way too creepy.
She hitched the Shuriken a little higher in her grip and started toward the edge of the desert wasteland. It had been a while since she had been outside Midgar, but she knew that all the places she hadn't looked yet were just beyond the city, and seeing that she had the night off, why not start looking now?
She had just passed a crumbling stone wall which separated that part of Midgar from the desert when she froze. Her eyes suddenly spotted three figures on bikes at the top of a cliff some distance away. It was hard to tell if they had seen her, but Yuffie could take no chances. She didn't want anyone following her if she happened to find a jack-pot of materia. She quickly dashed behind the stone wall and peered through a hole in the cement at the men in the distance.
"Hey, Kadaj?" Yazoo was saying lightly over the gusts of the deserted plain, "Is that where big brother lives?"
There was a moment while Kadaj considered the answer, but he was almost certain he could sense Cloud's presence in that direction. His mother's cells were still quite evident within the man even if he chose to ignore them. "Yeah," he said. His eyes narrowed slightly, catching a faint movement in the distance. He ignored it – probably just a stray dog.
"Don't cry, Yazoo," Loz teased. Kadaj leaned back on his bike, taking in the sight before him. He could feel his big brother's presence getting closer – or maybe he was mistaken? No, he was certainly moving towards them and fast.
"But mother's with him," Yazoo replied, indifferently. Kadaj could feel a hint of frustration as he realized that as Cloud's presence grew nearer, his mothers did not.
"Maybe not," he said, voicing his concern, but keeping his brothers from discovering his insecurity over this rather annoying find. Perhaps the President had lied to him, Kadaj thought with a pang of anger and disappointment.
Behind him, Loz had started to sniffle. "Don't cry, Loz," Yazoo said, genuinely. Kadaj ignored them, as another movement in the bottom of the desert valley caught his eye. This time, it confirmed his earlier thought.
"Look," he said with a sly grin, "he's coming."
Yazoo and Loz, unable to sense Jenova cells like their brother, had to find Cloud with their sight. When they did, they gave a sinister chuckle and on Kadaj's order, went after him.
Yuffie gave a small gasp as she realized two of the men took off after another biker – who looked all too familiar. "Cloud!" she breathed in shock as monsters were summoned after him.
She pressed her face against the cold cement of the wall, watching with wide eyes as Cloud fought off the two men. It was the first time she noticed they had silver hair. Her heart dropped. "Oh, boy," she mumbled, thinking back to the last man she remembered with their coloring, "Not again. Please not again."
She drew her gaze to the last of the three, still up on the cliff, leaning against his bike and talking casually on his cell phone. "How strange," she said, as she noted this man had no interest in what was going on below him.
She went back to watching Cloud, and figured that she would have gone and helped out if they weren't on bikes. Instead, she gasped as monsters jumped up and surrounded Cloud; she resisted the temptation to close her eyes.
Then, they disappeared. Yuffie blinked, a little confused. She brought her gaze up to the third silver-haired man again and realized that he had stopped the creatures. His hand was still posed above his head, a sly grin across his smooth-featured face. She then noticed the other two leave Cloud and take off in the opposite direction.
It was as though they knew exactly what the third was thinking, Yuffie mused. She noticed Cloud stall and gaze up as curiously as she had at the third man on the cliff. It seemed that both Cloud and Yuffie had the same question ringing through their mind: What was that all about?
Just after the third man drove off, Yuffie realized that the other two silver-haired men were making their way toward Midgar. Oh crap! Yuffie threw herself behind a shattered door still hanging off an old building to avoid being seen. She didn't know them, but she figured after terrorizing Cloud like that, she didn't want to be the next target.
She held her Shuriken close to her body, watching closely as they came nearer on their bikes. One was on his cell phone, and they paused. Their bikes coming to a sliding stop just before the building where Yuffie hid. She held her breath and listened closely.
She was taken by their image of silver hair and catlike mako eyes. They were both younger, spinning images of Sethiroth, which made a shiver go down her spin at the thought. Hopefully this wasn't going to be another event like that last one.
The longer haired man paused, his cell phone posed on his ear as he listened intently to the speaker.
"Yes, Kadaj," he said, simply. Yuffie pressed her ear against the door a little harder to listen in. The larger man, a buff-looking older version of the last was gazing at the other curiously.
"We will," the younger one replied into the phone. He folded it and passed it to the short-haired man with a small grin.
"Kadaj wants you to visit the church," he said, indifferently. What were they after? Yuffie mused. Yuffie's eyes widened. Oh no! Not the church!
She had a mental image pass through her mind of her box of materia she had lent to Cloud a few days ago. He had said he needed a few and that he would pay her. Well, she hadn't gotten the money for them yet, and the last thing she needed was for these freaks to find them there. They must be after materia, just like here! But, how did they know it was there? Hmm… Cloud probably let something slip, she thought. She resisted the temptation to bust out of her hiding place and direct them to a different church, but she figured her idea wasn't a brilliant one after what she had just witnessed them do to Cloud.
She figured she would just have to follow them ninja style and keep them from getting the materia. She nodded to her own thought, her mind decided. She watched as the old one nodded almost at the same time as her and started his bike.
Oh crap, he's got a bike. Yuffie figured she would have to run in order to keep up with him, but there was still little chance in getting there before he did. She gritted her teeth as she watched him leave, realizing at she couldn't leave her hiding spot until the other left as well.
The longer haired man sat silently on his bike for a moment, waiting until the sound of the other's motor had faded into the distance. He seemed resistant to Yuffie's attempts of furiously willing him away so she too could go.
Instead, he started his bike and glanced around at the old buildings around him. Yuffie had to wonder what that 'Kadaj' had asked him to do, before he finally tore away from the spot, leaving a trail of sand and dust in his wake.
"Damnit!" Yuffie cursed, jumping from her hiding spot after he had rounded a corner and disappeared. She took off in the direction of the church, hoping with all her will that she could make it there in time to save her materia.
"Tifa, can we go now, please?" Marlene pleaded happily, as Tifa cleaned up the last of the dishes. It had been a busy afternoon, but now the bar was empty and quiet. Tifa had promised Marlene that she would take her to see the flowers in the church. "And maybe we'll run into Cloud on the way there," she had said earlier that afternoon before having a flood of people walk through the entrance and order drinks.
Tifa knew Cloud liked to visit the church because of the flowers. He didn't have to say anything for Tifa to know they reminded him of Aerith. Silently, she had just accepted his silence, hoping he would soon pull out of it and move on.
In the time being, Tifa had put Yuffie to work and managed the room and bar on her own. With Cloud out on deliveries almost all the time, she had to make sure the kids were looked after. The bar only served as their only source of income, seeing that Cloud like to take detours and burn up his delivery money in the tank of the bike. She didn't mind though. It kept her busy, and every once and a while their friends like Barret, Cid and Vincent would drop in to visit. Well, Vincent… not usually, but Barret liked to see Marlene every week, or as much as he could.
"Alright, let's go, Marlene," Tifa replied, putting the dish towel on the counter and flipping the open sign over. She knew she wouldn't get anyone in until dinner time was over, so she was safe to leave it for a time.
Marlene gave a big smile and ran ahead of Tifa, leading her to the old church. Her excitement caused her to bounce at every third step. So, half running and half skipping Marlene lead Tifa to Midgar unaware of what awaited them there.
Yuffie had made it to the church in record speed, but not before the silver-haired man had. His bike was parked outside the double doors, and she noticed his heavy footsteps in the sand leading into the church. She panicked and before she could stop herself, she rushed in after him.
The creaking of the floorboards beneath her feet gave her away immediately, and she froze as he turned around to see her standing there holding her large Shuriken close to her chest, her eyes wide and her mouth thin with a frown. She cursed inwardly, noticing her box of materia laying very close to where he stood, but it seemed it hadn't seen it yet. She would try and keep it that way.
He smirked at her appearance, his mako eyes narrowing on her threateningly. Yuffie braced herself. She didn't know what to expect with this silver-haired look-a-like.
Suddenly, he spoke. "Where's mother?" he asked, bluntly. Yuffie blinked.
"Huh?" she said, stupidly. Was this giant of a man asking for this mother? She almost burst out laughing at the thought. How pathetic!
"I said, where's mother?" he repeated. She could sense a hint of impatience in his tone and raised her Shuriken slightly in defense.
This action didn't go unnoticed by him and he chuckled. "You wanna play?" he asked her. He held his hands before him with a grin spreading across his face. Yuffie gritted her teeth. How dare he make a fool of her!
"You don't know who you're dealing with!" she said, proudly, "So, I'd watch it if I were you."
"Oh?" The silver-haired man feigned surprise, his mako eyes widening with a look of childish innocence. However, a look like that on a man his size was only the slightest bit creepy, Yuffie agreed.
"Yeah, you heard me!" Yuffie snapped. She readied her Shuriken and narrowed her gaze on him, giving him the impression that she was not one to give up easily.
"Fine, play with me," the man smirked. Yuffie growled, she had had enough of his mock. She rushed forward, and threw her Shuriken at him.
To her annoyance, he jumped out of the way and landed directly behind her. Yuffie widened her eyes in surprise. He was so fast. "Ooooh!" she snarled, in frustration, turning around and catching the side of his face with a well-aimed left-hanger.
He grunted but pulled out of it, quickly lunging his fist into her stomach and sending her flying backward. In mid-air, she caught her returning Shuriken and landed, skidding to grinding stop. She was just in time to throw her ninja star back at him, and dodge his next attack.
The edge of her Shuriken caught his forearm, but he didn't even pause to see the blood seep onto the leather. Instead, he rushed at Yuffie and sent a shock of energy at her, sending her flying back again. This time, she wasn't so lucky.
She missed catching the Shuriken as it flew over her head and landed somewhere behind her, and the silver-haired man suddenly appeared in the air above her. His fist pounded into her stomach and sent her crashing into the wooden floorboards below. Pieces of wood and dust went flying, and she was sure she would never be able to have kids now that her stomach had been so brutally hit.
He landed somewhere off in the distance of the church. Yuffie struggled to her feet. She could see his silhouette through the dust. The patch of flowers now looked rather trampled on, and she spotted her box of materia and sighed at the sight of it still there, untouched.
This didn't go unnoticed by the silver-haired man. He followed her gaze curiously over to where the box stood and smirked when he realized what it must be, and why she had followed him there.
Yuffie noticed him looking and suddenly jumped up and aimed a punch at him. She caught him straight in the nose. "Don't even think about it! Jerk!" she shouted. She landed in front of the box and watched as he sailed through the air and landed in the patch of flowers.
She grinned proudly at her handy work as he sat up with a bloodied nose. He glanced at the flowers around him and a disgusted look fell across his face. "Gross," she heard him say, before he was rushing at her full on.
She was too slow to move out of the way and felt his weapon crash into her ribs. She let out a gasp of surprise and pain as she felt her ribs crack beneath his powerful attack, and she landed on her side a few feet away.
She groaned and rolled over on her side so that she could see where the man had gone to. Panic striped her of the pain when she saw that he had opened the box and was now gazing hungrily down at her life's worth of materia. He seemed to have forgotten her for the moment, and Yuffie struggled to her feet once more, ignoring the pain in her ribs.
"Stay away from my materia!" she shouted, angrily, glancing over to see her Shuriken laying a few feet away from where he stood. He didn't seem to notice that she had spoken, and instead, picked up one of the little orbs and gazed at it. "Hey! Didn't you hear me!? I'm talking to you!" Yuffie snapped, balling her fists, "Put that down! Do you know who you're dealing with? I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"
At this statement the man, still holding the orb of magic glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked. He gave a soft chuckle of amusement. That same glare was on his face. Yuffie couldn't deny that his mako eyes looked too much alike. Again, she glanced over at her Shuriken, but it was too late.
He had lunged forward again, and due to the pain in her ribs, Yuffie couldn't move. She took the blow full on and landed in the flower bed with a long, pained grunt. She caught her breath and leaned up again, to see that the man had put the orb back in its original spot in the box. He straightened up and glanced over at her with a malicious flash in his eyes.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Yuffie growled. Before either of them could say or do anything more a victory theme echoed through the church. It caught her off guard and she froze to glance around. "Wha…" she breathed, confused.
The man frowned and dug in his pocket. He produced a cell phone, and Yuffie's eyes narrowed on him once more as he answered. It took him a moment to say anything, but once he had caught his breath, he said, slowly, "She's … not here."
Yuffie blinked. Who wasn't there? Oh, yeah; mother. She almost laughed out loud again at the thought. There was something seriously messed with his head, she thought. And the next thing he said confirmed it.
"I'm not crying!" Yuffie smirked at the psycho. So, he looks for his mommy and he cries? Oh, this is just too good!
"Alright… I'll bring the girl." He said. Wait, what? Yuffie blinked and her eyes widened. There was no way she would be kidnapped by this loser.
He hung up, but Yuffie was already on her feet, swaying from the pain in her chest. She readied herself for another attack. "I'm not coming with you! You freak!" she shouted, and rushed towards the Shuriken. She dived for it, but just as she did, he grabbed her leg in mid-jump and flung her at the pile of benches.
She crashed into them, getting more than a fair share of splinters in the process. She groaned again in pain, and this time, she found she could hardly move. She let her face fall sideways and caught sight of the man picking up her box of precious materia. Anger stirred within her, but she was fading.
"Bastard," she mumbled before her eyes slid closed.
"Come on!" Marlene ran forward through the dusty old street. The church was in sight, and they rounded a corner to see that the doors were open to them. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but as Tifa came closer her eyes caught sight of the skid marks of a motorcycle and broken floorboards. She rushed forward in a panic and grabbed Marlene by the arm before the child could go in any further.
"Wait," Tifa said, sternly. She glanced around inside to see that the benches had all been destroyed. With a pang of frustration, the flower bed looked as though it had been trampled by a heard of large animals. Everything was destroyed – more than it had been the last time they were there at least.
"What happened?" Marlene asked, curiously. Her eyes fell on the trampled flower bed and she gasped, "Tifa!" she cried, pointing at it. Her eyes filled with tears at the sight of it.
Tifa hugged her close. Cloud would never have done such a thing, especially not to the flowers. Something was definitely wrong. She thought back to the phone call she had gotten from Reno earlier. He sounded strange, and she knew something was up. She only hoped that Cloud would be alright.
With a free hand, the other was comforting Marlene, she picked up her cell and called Cloud. No answer.
She didn't even bother leaving a message – it would be a waste of time. She looked down at Marlene. "We should go home, Marlene, it isn't safe here." She said, flatly.
"But…"
"No," Tifa said, sternly, cutting off any argument the child could dish out.
"What about Cloud?" Marlene asked, her eyes still watering, and her mouth trembling uncontrollably.
"He'll be alright," Tifa said, uncertainly. She would never have told Marlene otherwise. "Come on, he's probably headed back home too."
With this, Marlene seemed to consider her reply, and nodded. "He said he'd be back right?" she asked, hopefully.
"Of course," Tifa replied, warmly, "Now, come on. It's dangerous here."
Reluctantly, Marlene let Tifa guide her out of the church and back to Seventh Heaven. Tifa sincerely hoped Cloud had made it back to the bar, but something in the back of her mind told her that he had most probably answered her earlier message about Reno, and that he was headed to the Healin Lodge at that very moment.
She kept this silent from Marlene. She didn't need the child to be more terrified than she already was. And with a great effort, she changed the subject and started directing the child's thoughts toward happier things as they walked home.
Kadaj had waited long enough before he saw his older brother's headlights flashing between the trees in the Forgotten City. He was glad he had made it to him in little time, and would have felt relieved that Loz had taken his earlier words to heart if it hadn't have been for what he noticed Loz carrying back with him.
Kadaj's mouth fell open slightly, his eyes widened in frustration as he saw his brother carrying a large silver box and a human with him on his bike. "Fool," Kadaj breathed. His eyes narrowed as he watched Loz skid to a stop and smirk.
He dropped both things on the ground before Kadaj; the box of materia and the human. Kadaj regarded the human with little interest as she lay unconscious in the dirt before his feet.
"Look what I found!" Loz said, proudly, like a child pointing out a shinny new penny in the dust. Kadaj only scowled.
"What are you thinking?" he snapped. Loz's face fell. He looked like he was going to cry. Kadaj put a hand to his temple as it started to throb with pain again. He could feel his mother's growing impatience, and he started to pace before Loz, resisting the temptation to hit him into oblivion.
"I thought you said –," Loz started.
"I said for you to come back after you had done your searching! Yet, you bring this human and this… what is this?" Kadaj kicked the box of materia curiously.
"Look inside! I found it at the old church," Loz replied, hoping to redirect his furious brother's attention to the materia.
Kadaj bent down and snapped open the locks. The box lid flung open revealing to him the glowing magical orbs. Immediately his face lit up, and Loz smirked, proud of his finding.
"Look what brother was hiding," Kadaj said, picking up one of the orbs and equipping it. His eyes flashed in the light of the magic with a menacing glow. Loz simply admired him, but a small grunt snapped them out of their thoughts.
The human was waking up. Kadaj shot a nasty glare at Loz, who shrunk under his gaze. "You didn't say not to bring her," Loz said, in feeble defense.
"Because I had probably hung up before you said you were bringing her," Kadaj snapped, angrily. Loz realized this and looked rather awkward.
"No, matter," Kadaj was saying, calmly. He turned to face the black river running through the forest, thinking quietly to himself. "Just kill her." He ordered.
Loz nodded, obediently. The human was awake and fully aware now of what was happening. Loz knew from the way she had stood up to him in the church that she wouldn't simply sit back and let him go through with Kadaj's order.
And he was right on the money when she opened her mouth. "What? Hey, wait a second, mister! I'm not through with you yet! You stole my materia, so give it back!"
Kadaj spun around and narrowed his eyes on her. "Your materia?" he hissed.
He noticed her gaze land on his forearm where he had equip one of the orbs. It was still shinning with power, and her eyes widened.
"Ooooh! You thief!" she accused. He only smirked, and looked up at Loz.
"What are you waiting for?" he spat. Loz got off the bike and the human turned over upon hearing his heavy steps come toward her. Her eyes widened, and he grinned maliciously. He raised his fist above his head, readying for a final blow.
Kadaj had turned away from the scene, leaving Loz to deal with the human as he watched for Yazoo to arrive with the infected children.
Yuffie gasped as she watched the older man raise his fist. She had to act fast. Her mind panicked and in the midst of his attack rushing down at her she screamed, "Why were you chasing Cloud?"
Only a second after she had uttered Cloud's name, she suddenly regretted it. The younger man, who she suspected was the one the other two were calling Kadaj, spun around, eyes widened at the statement and shouted, "Stop!"
The older man froze mid-attack, looking up to see that his brother had strode forward and grabbed the human by the neck. He picked her up like that, her feet waving wildly above the ground.
Yuffie gasped for breath, and felt his grip on her neck tighten. "What do you know about it?" Kadaj snarled.
Yuffie would have made a snide remark, but his hand was cutting off her air supply. She gave a feeble cough, her eyes rolled back and he suddenly realized he didn't want to kill her just yet. Kadaj threw her aside and she landed on her butt a few feet away beside the river.
She gasped for air, thankful that he had let her go, but she wasn't stupid enough to say anything to him. She didn't even know why he was so interested in the first place. Instead, she said, "You're an ass!"
She immediately regretted having opened her mouth a second time that day. He was on her before she could even get off the ground. Such speed, she thought as an aside. His hands were on her neck again, his eyes wide with anger. Yuffie noted the youth behind his face and how his silver hair felt before his eyes giving him a more than needed intimidating look.
His grip wasn't so firm this time. She realized she could breath, but she couldn't move. He was pinning her to the ground, even though he didn't look at all that heavy. She grunted at the pain in her ribs as he pressed his knee against her chest to keep her from moving. She held in a scream as the pain ripped through her.
"Now, let's try this again," Kadaj snarled. Yuffie collected all the spit in her mouth and spat it at his face. Unfortunately she hadn't counted on gravity or him leaning back as he watched the ball of spit come towards him, and it ended up landing on the owners face.
Yuffie felt the heat escape her cheeks as her own blob of spit slid down her cheek and into her hair. Kadaj's eyes lit up and he let out a hysterical laugh, his grip on her throat tightened. "How pathetic," he said, gritting his teeth. His eyes returned to their original cold glare.
Yuffie was fuming. "Do you know who I am?" she gasped, ignoring the pain he was causing her. She saw from the corn of her eye the older man smirk, knowingly, and felt a pang of annoyance. How dare they mock her!
"No, and I don't much care!" Kadaj replied, "Now, answer my question, human!"
Yuffie ignored his last comment and shouted, "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie, you freak! And I answer to no one! Not even silver-haired brats like you!"
With that, she thrust her hips and brought her legs up, kicking him off her. Kadaj's eyes widened with panic as he was neatly thrown into the river. A splash of cold water splattered over Yuffie as she grinned proudly at her handy-work.
A cry of panic made her turn to see the older man come running toward Kadaj, who had jumped quickly from the water and onto the bank. His leather clothing glistened and his hair stuck to his face. Yuffie would have pointed and started laughing at him if it hadn't been for cold, and absolutely terrifying mako glare he gave her.
Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight, and she realized that that probably hadn't been her best idea. Before she knew it he had grabbed her by the neck again and slammed her body against at glowing white tree. His eyes were what scared her the most, glowing green and full of hatred. He bared his teeth and scowled.
The other man stood in the distance watching them, a concerned look for his younger brother spread across his face.
"You're lucky that wasn't mako you threw me into," Kadaj hissed at her.
Yuffie narrowed her ninja gaze on him, and retorted, "No, actually, you're lucky it wasn't! Sheesh, get it right!"
"Great Ninja Yuffie, huh?" Kadaj said, ignoring her cheek. His eyes traveled the length of her body, "So, where's your powerful ninja star, oh Great One?" he mocked.
Yuffie suddenly realized that she had left her Shuriken in the church. She could have kicked herself for it, but it seemed Kadaj was doing that already. She cursed herself silently, and caught Kadaj's triumphant look.
"I hope your life is worth the information you have," Kadaj said, coldly, "because I'm going to get it out of you one way or another."
"I won't tell you anything, you bastard! Give me back my materia!" Yuffie said, stubbornly. Kadaj's eyes narrowed on her, threateningly.
"Hmph," he said, bitterly, "Wrong choice."
With that, the last thing Yuffie remembered was the pain in her ribs and a sudden hit at the back of her head. She watched Kadaj's sneer fade into darkness before she passed out for the second time that day.