Shin-Ra

I groaned, clutching at my head as I came back into conciousness. I was laying in dust, and my entire body hurt. I sat up, and looked around. I cursed.

I was in the back alley-way streets of Midgar on the fifth plate.

And I knew because I'd been here before. Four years ago.


I attempted to take a deep breath, but it came out shaky and gasping. My hand rubbed at my neck, and I felt unaware of the tears running down my cheeks until they touched my hands. For a second I feared it was blood, and looked at my hand. It was salt water. Tears.

I started sobbing now, pulling my knees to my chest. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to go back to my life.

I had sworn I'd never come back... it was in rage and hate... but I meant it.

I watched in terror as Sephiroth viciously stabbed Cloud, flinging him across the room. I attempted to get to my feet, my SOLDIER armor weighing me down, soaked in my blood from my stomach wound as I tried to get up. To kill him. He had destroyed everything I held precious in this world. He would pay.

"You fucking bastard! I'll tear you to pieces with my bare hands! I hate you!" I cried in rage, tears streaming down my cheeks and blurring my vision. Sephiroth turned to face me, his face sad.

"You shouldn't say that. Mother won't aprove... a pity. I happened to favor you." I scrambled to my feet, supporting myself on JENOVA's tank and spat at him, baring my teeth in an animalistic snarl.

"Fuck you," I growled simply, reaching for my handgun. Before I could make a defensive move, his sword pierced through my chest, yanking upwards and exiting through my shoulder. I screamed and gurgled at the pain, falling flat on my face. Sephiroth crouched in front of me, and moved my head with his hand so he could look at me.

"I told you to watch your tongue, Kairi," he said softly. "I didn't want to hurt you... but have peace in the Promised Lands." I glared at him, bits of my home world flashing in my eyes.

"Bastard! I'm n... never... never come... coming ba..." I never got to finish my sentence, as the blackness took over.

As I cried, sleep took over. That sickening blackness swarmed and ate away at my conciousness.


I sat in the alley-way, staring blankly at the wall. For the past two-days I hadn't moved more than laying down and sitting up. I was thinking. If I didn't have water or food soon, I was going to die. My stomach's constant protest to any thought other than food made me firmly aware of that.

In the army I had been taught that the brain tells you when you are hungry, normally, and they had trained us out of the habit of thought-connected hunger. We were put on a strict diet, so we never ate anything more or anything other than what was required. If your body told you you were hungry, it was supposed to be a sign of dying. A built in alarm-clock.

But what should I do? I couldn't go back to SOLDIER. I was probably classified as Missing in Action, or something along those lines, anyways... and I didn't want to see Shin-Ra's face ever again. If I did, I didn't think I would be able to hold myself back from snapping the mans neck. And what about Zack? That blonde boy that had been with us? Sephiroth? Professor Hojo? That girl Zack called Tifa? The Turks? JENOVA? How long had I been away in there time? What had I missed?

So many questions ran through my head, but one came in prominent.

Sephiroth.

I knew without a doubt that he had probably killed Zack, as well as everyone else in Nibelheim. He would pay.

There was no way he was still in the Shin-Ra corporation... they weren't that stupid. But was Shin-Ra still in tact? Was the company still running?

My stomach gave a grating pain, so fierce I cried out, and someone who was walking by the alley-way froze. I looked up to see someone dressed in a suit, with bright red hair, a cocky smirk, and goggles. The hints of concealed weapons were beneath his clothing, but only obvious to a trained eye.

I was to consumed by my sudden pain for a moment, as I dry-wretched, to care as the man aproached me.

"Hey, hey! Pretty lady with the wierd guns, why ya starvin'?" He asked, voice laced with a sort of teasing concern. The pain faded to a dull throb and I looked up from my pitiful state, on my hands and knees, up at the man. I suddenly felt a bit of recognition, and recoiled, curling against the wall. I was strong enough to fight, but he didn't know that, and he was clearly trained well. He could over-ower me, though not easily. I was cocky, but I wasn't stupid.

"Because," I said. My voice was scratchy and hoarse from lack-of use and pain. He furrowed his brow.

"Y'know, ya look familiar," he commented. "Either way, I got an apartment with a couch, a plate of food ready to be warmed up, and a bath with your name on it."

I took a second to think about it. I could care less about the mans intentions, but what was my point? My entire life, I had always had a point, a reason to do something. What was it now?

To get my revenge. To destroy Sephiroth.

I gave a weak nod.

"Nice. Can ya stand?"


"So what's ya name?" The man asked as I sat down on his couch, dressed in a large T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants that had the tie as tight as it could go. I wasn't oblivious to his roaming gaze. I got that alot. The army did that to a girl. She looked rugged... hard-core, if you want, her body muscled in a way that I had once heard described as a 'sexy blacksmith with a big chest'. And considering she had no bra, she wasn't surprised by the glazed look in the guys eyes.

I thought about it. If he really knew who I was, he might shoot me or something along those lines. Most people with guns in Midgar worked for Shin-Ra... if they still existed that was.

I just decided on the truth. After all, if a simple man could kill me, how could I even dream of destroying Sephiroth?

"My name is Kairi." He nodded.

"I recognize your name too... Do I know you from somewhere?" I shrugged.

"Midgar is a big city," I said lightly, improvising.

I remembered vividly many of the nights I had spent roaming the city, out after curfew, in the large city. I had been here for a total of five years while in a coma on Earth for one year.

He nodded in reply. He walked out of his kitchen and handed me a mug of tea and a plate of left-over spaghetti. I resisted from scarfing it all down. I would be sick if I did. Instead, I took a few sips and a few bites, before setting it aside for later.

"What's your name...?" I asked.

"Reno." I remembered instantly who he was... I remembered all of those missions he had been my pilot... But I had to check.

"The Turk?" He suddenly seemed suspicious, but nodded anyways.

Oh shit.

I need to get out of here. Because if he's a Turk, Shin-Ra is still alive... and I'm under order of execution. For deserting SOLDIER.


I thank Reno several times over, playing the part of a thankful girl before I left the next morning. I was now clean, rested and full. I also happened to be wearing the clothes I had had before I appeared here. I was wearing my long black leather trench coat that pulled itself together with sets of buckles. Underneath I wore a black tanktop with ten necklaces I never took off, and black shorts. On my back was a bag Reno had lent me, which was filled with some food, about fifty gil for a place to stay for the next night or whatever I needed, a map to Edge, and a set of spare clothes which included a T-shirt and shorts, curtesy of Reno. He was also kind enough to lend me his phone number.

"Ya can call me anytim, for whatever ya need, kid," he had said. I nodded my head and with a bid of polite farewell, I walked away.

Now I had to find Edge, Reno had said a group called AVALANCHE hid out there, waiting out themselves for a chance to destroy any remains of JENOVA. He had said to look for a bar called Seventh Heaven.


The time it took get to Edge was longer than I would have expected, but before I had left, I had stopped at an electronics store, and for a buch of tinkering, I had earned enough to buy myself a motorcycle. That in itself had taken about five days.

With my new, small bike beneath me, my past behind me, revenge in front of me, I wished for wings.

I drove.

I reached Edge in a few days's time, just before I was about to run out of food. I sat on the edge of the city, pulling out some food to eat, when I saw a kid with some wierd bruising all over his skin stare at me with adoration. I sighed, and gestured him over. He timidly walked towards me.

"I'll give you the bread and cheese if you tell me what's wrong with you," I offered. He looked confused, but nodded. All of the kids that lay on the streets here, begging for food, had something wrong with their skin or bodies, and it was all the same thing. It was dispicable, but what was worse was the way the adults treated them.

"All us kids got geostigma," he said, and I thanked him before handing him the food. I pushed myself onto my feet, and walked my bike down a street, looking for the bar on the map, but it wasn't there. I cursed.

"Damned Reno can't tell any fuckin' instructions, and he's a fuckin' pilot?!!"

A kid eeped, a little girl who had been approaching me. I turned to face her.

"Can I help you?" I asked politely, crouching in front of her. I loved kids. They were so innocent, so... easy. Easy to damage. Easy to kill. Easy to hurt. Easy to use. Easy.

"I can give you directions," she offered softly.

"I'm sorry, but I already gave away all of my food," I relented. I felt horrible. She smiled.

"I've already have breakfast. I have a home."

"Oh. Good for you. Now, can you tell me how to get to the bar Seventh Heaven...?" The little girl nodded and smiled wider.

"That is my home!" She chirruped. Suddenly, a little boy was beside her. He watched me carefully.

"Hello," I said softly.

"My name is Marlene. This is Denzel," the girl said suddenly.

"My name is Kairi."


I walked into the bar, my bike packed outside, and the two little kids behind me. They were gone in an instant, probably to their mother. I went to the back of the bar and took a seat.

I just sat there for a while, thinking. Not really about anything specific. I liked doing that. Just thinking for the sake of staying sane, which was a heady task in my life nowadays.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice, and looked up. A man, with a large broadsword strapped to his back, dressed in a SOLDIER uniform stood at the bar. My eyes brightened and I lept to my feet.

It was Zack! That was his sword! He was alive!

I rushed forward, tears filling my eyes, as I lunged myself at the man, wrapping my arms around him as I started sobbing, sobbing his name repeatedly.

"What the hell?! Get off!" A voice exclaimed, and when it reached my ears, I stepped back. My eyebrows furrowed. It was Zack's sword... but not Zack. Rage filled me as I stared up at blue eyes and blonde hair. I yanked out a gun and pointed it to his head. The girl behind the bar shieked.

"Bastard! How the hell did you get that sword?!!" The mans eyes widened and his hands twitched. I cocked the gun. I wasn't stupid.

"M-My friend gave it to me...!!" He exclaimed, surprised and scared. I narrowed my eyes, and punched him in the gut. He keeled over, my gun still to his head as I whispered harshly into his ear.

"No you theiving bastard, that was Zack's sword!" I felt the man go rigid.

"How do you know Zack...?" His voice was soft with pain. I stepped back, my face confused. The man got to his feet. I looked closer at him. If you just changed his hair and eye color... he looked exactly like Zack.

"P-Please tell me... please tell me your Zack..." I whimpered softly, suddenly a gun was to the back of my head, and I cursed.

"I do not appriciate you placing guns to my friends heads," a cold voice said. I went rigid, cursing myself for my stupidity.

"Vincent, let her go. She thought I was Zack." I looked at Cloud like he was an idiot. I had just put a fucking gun to his head!


"So how do you know Zack...?" Cloud asked, sitting down. After sorting things out with the Valentine expiriment, as I used to refer to him as, they had offered me a glass of water, and taken a seat. Tifa, who I had recognized instantly, as well as Vincent and Cloud sat around me.

"I was with that man for five fucking years. He was my best friend and superior. I believe I should be asking you the same fucking thing," I grumbled out. I didn't like talking, especially to this man. Tifa was staring at me, trying hard to remember something, Vincent was indifferent, and Cloud was pissed. I'd be pissed to.

"What do you mean? You're SOLDIER?"

"Ex. Now how do you know Zack?"

"I'm an Ex-SOLDIER," Cloud admitted. Tifa's eyes suddenly widened in recognition.

"Y-you dissapeared!" She suddenly exclaimed. I gave her a look.

"Thank you for remembering me, Tifa, darling," I said in sarcastic sincerety. "Now, for the million dollar question, how do you know Zack?" I asked again.

"Don't you remember? Cloud was with us in Nibelheim! He had killed Sephiroth!" My body went rigid at the name, as I tried to remember... and then I did. Cloud seemed to remember at the same time.

"K-Kairi...?" His voice was thick with emotoin. I nodded slowly. Tears welled in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry..." And with a violent jerk of his chair, Cloud ran out the area. Tifa's eyes were downcast in shame. Vincent just watched emotionlessly. As usual.

"Tifa? What did I miss..." And then I noticed something. "Wait, how did Cloud get Zack's sword...?" She didn't answer, just sobbed lightly, crying. With a loud sob, she raced up the stairs of the bar. Vincent turned cold eyes to me, but they held pity. I met his gaze with my terrified one.

"What happened...?" I asked him.

"That is for Cloud to tell you," he said, voice tinted with pity, and he got up. They had all left me alone. I sunk into my seat, fiddling with my necklaces.


I woke up partially, having fallen asleep on the booth in the back of the bar, as someone draped a blanket over me. I pretended to be asleep as I watched Cloud stand there, staring at me for a moment.

And then he whispered something that made me want to cry harder.

"Zack said that if I ever saw you again, he said to tell you 'Don't wish for wings'. I wonder what he meant." And with a silent, sad look, he wiped away a stray tear.

"I'm sorry, I failed him Kairi... I'm sorry I failed you... I'm sorry I failed everyone... Please forgive me... I don't deserve your memory..." Without another word, he walked back up to his bedroom, unaware I had heard everything he had said. I knew what he meant though. I knew what Zack meant. And I knew what Cloud meant.

I closed my eyes and let the nightmares consume me.


A/N: Hullo, my lovely ducklings! This story has to be the best-written one I've ever done... Anywho, more chapters to come! I want reviews! Please! Also, does anyone know any good Sephy/OC fics? Or any good Cloud/Zack fics? REALLY good ones, BTW...

Also, quick note, this story is based right before Advent Children, and I will be going on cannon with the movie! It's essential! And also, every thing mentioned about Kairi is important. Especially the necklaces.