Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters or places...I just own the Pike Goldop guy. A big huge THANK YOU goes out to all the people who reviewed this story and reminded me to finish this and my other stories. Life, as it always does, has been keeping me busy. Thank you for your patience! I've finished GREEN Hair. Have fun reading it! I certainly had fun writing it!

Rainbow of Shadows

One year after the downfall of Kefka, the Heroes who had saved the world had dispersed to live out the rest of their lives in peace. Edgar and Sabin Figaro, the twins, went back to Figaro to rule their kingdom, although Sabin disappeared for many months at a time. Locke Cole and Celes Schere went back to the Solitary Island to live with Professor Cid and maybe start a town. Strago Magus and Relm Arrowny returned to Thamasa to rebuild what had been lost, and Setzer Gabbianni went back to gambling, traveling from casino to casino. Mog and Umaro said they were going back to Narche, which by this time was once again a bustling city, full of new technology and life. Cyan Garmonde left without saying very much, nor leaving any hint as to where he was going. Gau, surprisingly, asked the Figaros if he could live with them to learn some manners. Terra Branford politely refused Edgar's offer to live at the castle, saying she had some things she needed to take care of in Mobliz. One person, however, wasn't present at the celebration and the farewell party. Shadow. No one knew exactly what had happened to him during the escape from Kefka's Tower. Interceptor was their only clue, because that dog never left Shadow's side without being forced to do so. Interceptor was now living with Strago and Relm, enjoying the peace and quiet, but still missing his master. In a world where magic is now fading, Terra, now living with Katarin and Duane in Mobliz taking care of the orphans, often wonders about what happened to the black-clad man.

RED Blood

It was mid-spring, and the snow had melted long ago. The grass was a luscious green, and the air was warm, alight with dancing breezes. A perfect day for chocobo riding. Terra Branford stepped out into the warm sunlight and smelt the wind, which was scented with the field of colorful wildflowers that was growing nearby. The light reflected off of her light green hair that flowed down her back as she walked towards one of the other houses to find Katarin. The world seemed to have been reborn after the end of Kefka, as though it had been given a new life.

Terra walked into the house, one of the newer ones that had recently been built in an effort to make Mobliz a real place for people with nowhere left to go. There had been several additions to the population, and the once little ruin of a town was brimming once again with life. There were a few shops, mostly run by older people who had lost their families during Kefka's last assault on the world. Several women had lost their children, and now found comfort in taking care of the children who didn't have mothers or fathers.

"Katarin?" Terra called into the room. It seemed much darker than outside, and Terra had to let her eyes adjust. "Are you in here?" "Terra?" Katarin rounded a corner, her once again bulging belly preceding her. Six months after Terra had returned, Katarin discovered that she was pregnant again, and she was ecstatic about the news because of the new world they were living in. Terra believed that the new baby had made it all worth it.

"What do you need?" "I'm just going to go out for a ride in the forest," Terra responded. "I have to check the area for bandits so the merchants can have a safe trip in a couple of days."

"Make sure you pack some food," Katarin smiled, realizing what Terra really wanted to do. "You might want to make yourself a picnic." She suggested with a sly smile.

"I might just do that." Terra said, smiling back. She went back outside and was nearly blinded by the intensity of the light. Terra went back to her little abode and fixed herself a small picnic and a first aid kit, just in case. She slid on some armor underneath her clothes, grabbed the Atma Weapon and put it in its sheath at her thigh, and stuffed a few daggers in the first aid kit. She then tied her hair back into a ponytail. After putting everything in a backpack, she prepared her chocobo, a gift from Edgar, and attached her bag to the saddle. She mounted and took off, waving to Duane in the fields of vegetables as she left and he waved back enthusiastically.

She rode over the fields towards the nearby Forest of Naga to check for thieves. As she rode up to it, Terra noticed that there were no sounds coming from the trees. Normally, there were a variety of noises and jubilations coming from the leafy overhang. However, it was now silent, the kind of silent after a battle. Terra urged the big yellow bird into a gallop, and sprinted on the trail through the forest. She pulled up on her chocobo when she spotted something in the water of a stream that ran alongside the trail. The water was slightly reddish, though Terra considered it might be the bad light. She knew it to be dangerous, but she hopped off of her chocobo to investigate further. As the bird pranced around nervously behind her, Terra stooped down to get a whiff of the water, scooping it up in her hands and bringing it close to her face. Using her Esper half, she concurred that it was indeed blood. She looked back at her chocobo, and realized that the smell of the blood must be what was making it nervous.

"Let's keep going." Terra soothed it by petting its soft feathers. She mounted again, and she started it going at a slow trot, trying to follow the stream without losing the trail while keeping a lookout for any other signs of trouble. Finally, she came to a small waterfall, one that could be jumped over, and noticed the red water and become darker, thicker. Terra dismounted and pulled out her blazing blue beam, advancing slowly towards the area it seemed to be coming from. She moved silently over the soft, baby grass beneath her leather-clad feet. She crouched low to the ground as she crept up over the slight rise that led to the area above the waterfall, a pond. She stayed far enough down so as to be hidden, but she could see what was around her.

The area she had just discovered looked like a battlefield. There were bodies lying about in the shallow water, approximately fifteen of them, and all had looked as though they had been ransacked after they had been killed. Most of their throats had been cut and blood was oozing slowing out of the body, like it does after the heart stops beating. Others had just been killed by other conventional means. There was a decorated sword stuck in the ground near the waterfall, and Terra began to wonder why the bandits had left that sword. It was adorned with rubies and a large diamond was encrusted in the hilt. The blade was an odd color, however, and didn't look like real steel. Terra figured that that was the reason. There was a man wearing black clothing, similar to a ninja wrap, that looked like he was still breathing. Terra disregarded her own safety and splashed through the shallow water towards where the man was lying to see if he was indeed alive. When she reached him, she noticed that his chest was indeed rising and falling, even though his breath was shallow, and he had somehow managed to keep his head above water, which, although it wasn't very deep, he still had to hold his head up to keep from drowning. She knelt beside him and put her ear to his chest, which revealed that his heart was still beating at a regular rate. Shock still hadn't set in.

"I still have a chance." Terra muttered to herself. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting the pack and ran back to get it. In moments she returned, and had already taken out the kit. Using what was left of her Magic powers, she chanted a heavy curing spell while preparing the gaze and bandages. She took some herbs, which held some healing and disinfectant capabilities and ground them up in a small bowl, and then applied them to the gaze. Terra had to tear off what was left of the man's shirt and examined his wounds. There were some minor cuts and bruises all across his chest, but there was a deep gash that started at his left shoulder and crossed his stomach to his right hip. It was bleeding profusely.

First things first. Terra thought as she set herself up to work. She applied the gaze with the herb powder on it to the gash and the man groaned slightly. She gently pushed it down onto the wound so the medicine could take its full effect. The man hissed slightly, and tried to relax. At least he isn't trying to fight me off. She wrapped the bandage around the slash, and tied it off towards his shoulder. When the man opened his eyes to see who his healer was, a look of recognition and relief washed over his face.

"I thought you were a bandit, Terra." He muttered, and then his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his head lolled to one side. Terra forced her way through the shock and grabbed his head so he didn't breathe in water. She mentally shook herself and tried to call her chocobo over to her so she wouldn't have to carry him all the way. Thankfully, the bird answered, and trotted towards Terra at a cautious pace. When it stopped beside her, Terra hefted the man with as much care as possible onto the bird's back. She grabbed the backpack that had been left on a rock, and walked the chocobo home, holding the man so he wouldn't fall off.

About an hour later, Terra arrived at Mobliz, leading her small parade. The black of the man's suit contrasted the bright yellow feathers of the bird so much that it almost hurt to look at it in the sunlight. One of the children watched her approach and signaled her return with a shrill whistle. Duane came out of the largest house to greet her, and was astonished at what he saw. With his mouth agape, he took the chocobo from her to be bedded down for the night while Terra carried the man into the guesthouse that was soon to be an inn. She walked into the building, which was still under construction. Boards littered the floor, and sawdust could be seen floating through the air when caught in the sunlight shining through the windows. There were some beds that had already been assembled and brought into the house, some with covers and some not. She picked the cleanest bed, the one with a newly made patchwork quilt, and gently placed the man onto the bed, trying to avoid his injuries. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful, and the man awakened with a sharp yelp. Terra immediately pulled away and repeated her apologies again and again.

"Stop that." The man said quietly. He had a deep voice that was soft, but strained because he was in pain. It also sounded familiar to Terra.

"Who are you?" she asked him. "How did you know my name?" She looked hard at his face, studying his features, desperate to remember this man. She knew him, though she knew not where from. "Have I met you before?"

"I once told you that I had killed my emotions." He said forlornly. "Though they've grown back." He looked at her and watched as the realization dawned on her face, her eyes widening and her hand coming up to her face and covering her mouth in surprise.

"Shadow?" Terra whispered. Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she tried to hold them back, blinking many times, but they fell anyway. "I can't believe...I'm so happy...I thought..." Shadow reached up to her face and with a rough hand wiped away her tears. She took his worn hand into hers. "I thought you were dead." She seemed to be recovering from her shock. He squeezed her hand in response.

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" He looked at her through dark brown eyes. "Thank you." He said simply. He ran a hand through his black hair and pulled his hand away from Terra's. He tried to get comfortable, but with his wound it was difficult. Terra fussed about and tucked him in, muttering about how it had been cold the past few nights, and with his wounds, he should be kept warm. As she was helping him, a question popped into her head.

"Why were you with those people?" she asked as she continued to busy herself with the extra pillows. Without giving him time to answer, she proceeded to remove his bandage, and he protested loudly. "I have to check the wound, and it would be best if this was cleaned anyway." He consented, and she took the gaze off of him with no further ado. She examined the wound closely, and chanted a light cure spell on it just to make sure that there would be no infection. As she whispered the spell, he watched her every move. She noticed him staring at her and looked him straight in the eye, and he quickly averted his gaze. "You never answered my question." Grateful for the chance of conversation over the silence, Shadow hastily answered her question as she rewrapped the wound with fresh gaze and medicinal herbs.

"I was traveling with them as a bodyguard, though I failed in my job." He was genuinely unhappy about the whole ordeal. "They were nice people, too, never complained. All they wanted was to get to Mobliz to start a new life after Kefka."

"You mean they were coming here to live?" Terra asked in shock.

"Yes." Shadow replied simply. "I told them about this place, and they were interested because they had a huge family and they didn't think that the city was a good place for their little kids to grow up." Shadow had a far-off look in his eye. "Their youngest was three, a little girl named Maggie...She reminded me of..." He stopped himself before saying too much. He had forgotten that he hadn't told her about the rest of his life before he had joined the Heroes. Sensing something was wrong Terra diverted the topic.

"How many kids did they have?" she asked.

"Five. I was supposed to protect them..." The last was said more to himself than to Terra.

"It wasn't your fault, Shadow," Terra tried to comfort him. "One man against a large group of bandits hardly ever succeeds."

"I know, but...those little kids were depending on me. I don't even know what happened to them. They might be in the Underground being sold to overlords and other sickos that'll do whatever they damn well please with them." Shadow clenched and unclenched his fists in silent fury. "They don't deserve that, Terra." He looked up at her, his eyes suddenly filling with tears. "I know what's going to happen to them, Terra, I've watched it happen so many times...I used to raid those caravans, steal the children and watch the bandits beat the boys and rape the girls while they screamed...Oh God, how they screamed..."

"Shadow..."

"And then they would just kill the adults right in front of the kids, sometimes that was what my job was...I never liked it, just did it because I was gettin' paid to do it. I have so much blood on my hands...So much red blood...they may have never seen my face, but I'll never forget theirs." A single tear escaped and ran down his face. Terra reached over and wiped it away and then took his face in her hands, forcing him to look her straight in the eye.

"Shadow, don't think about that right now, you need to worry about healing yourself right now."

"I can't! I have to find them! They need me!" He struggled to get up, only to fall right back where he started. "I have to find them!"

"We have to find them, but we'll do that as soon as you are able to walk, and then we can search." She tucked him back in bed and smoothed the hair back from his eyes. "Okay?"

"Alright." He sighed. "Alright." She patted his shoulder and looked out the window; it had grown dark and there was a full moon rising. She looked back at Shadow and he had already fallen asleep, breathing deeply and evenly.

"Goodnight, Shadow." Terra whispered, and she got up and walked over to one of the extra beds. She fixed the covers and got in the bed, and was asleep within minutes.