A/N: This chapter will flip back and forth between the past and the present and I have labeled each section accordingly to hopefully cut down on confusion.

Chapter 3: …Like Shards of Broken Glass…

The Past: 6 Years Prior to the Start of the Summoner Wars-

The Office of Military Affairs

"He's not ready for this, the Turks are the best of the best and the stress of the job can be too much for a seasoned fighter, let alone a kid."

"He's not a kid and he's seen and dealt with more in the last 6 months than most have in the last 6 years."

"He's 16! He isn't legally an adult and by anyone else's standards, he's still a child; no one will take him seriously."

"The Turks will; they've requested him, specifically, and I guarantee you that once people see him in action his age will no longer be an issue."

The two nameless generals glanced through the door leading from their office out into the waiting area beyond. There, looking utterly bored, was a young man with sandy blonde hair, sitting with his knees tucked below him, absently playing with the summon he wore around his neck. Looking at the teen, one general still looked apprehensive and skeptical while the other just patted the man on the shoulder. "Don't worry; he'll be fine. It's practically a family business anyway."


Hayner looked up at the sound of footsteps to see his cousin, Cloud, walking towards him with his particular brand of nonchalance and confidence. Stopping in front of the suddenly alert teen, the elder blonde raised his sunglasses and gave a small smile.

"I'm in?" The younger asked, lowering his feet to the ground and standing.

"You doubted?"

A snort. "I'm not exactly the typical candidate for this job, you know."

Falling in beside his younger relative, Cloud gave a small laugh. "You're right, you have more sense."

"Then how do you explain Reno?"

A shrug. "We had a space to fill."

Brown eyes crinkled at the corners as the shorter male laughed, lapsing into silence moments later. The elder of the pair studied his companion as they walked. "Another dream?"

Silence, then, "Yeah, but this one was different; I wasn't alone this time."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "That's certainly new; anyone I know?"

The young summoner shook his head. "I didn't even know him."

The other eyebrow joined the first. "Huh." Cloud thought on this a moment and gave his companion a sideways look. "Maybe…"

"What?"

"Nothing, never mind." The pair exited the building and headed for the motorcycle parked nearby. "Let's get going so we can get you settled in; I can think of a few people who are going to want to congratulate you."


The Present: Balamb Garden's Training Grounds

"Move your ASS, Zell! The enemy waits for no one and if you think you're the exception think again!" Seifer bellowed. He watched the blonde man put more effort into making it through the obstacle course before turning away with a grunt of frustration as the man in question tripped and fell on his face in the mud.

"This is impossible; how are we supposed to win with that?" He asked of no one in particular, gesturing behind him. His friends Rai and Fuu lounged against a nearby wall and Rai shrugged as the glowering blonde moved closer.

"We could always throw him at them and hope we hit someone, ya know?"

"Tempting." Reaching the shade, the scarred soldier flopped down on the grass with a groan. The last few weeks had been hard on everyone and Seifer was no exception; he was exhausted. Once the research teams had been dispatched to try and find something they could use against the threat of war with the summoners, the rest of the garden had kicked into high gear. Daily training sessions, both individually and as part of a unit, strategy meetings and his own research had left the normally fit man feeling a bit run down; add in the dreams he'd been having about a certain summoner and…well…he was just damn tired.

The red eyed woman eyed him with a sympathetic look. "AGAIN?"

The man on the ground just sighed and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Yeah, they're coming more frequently now; several times a week instead of just once."

"REST."

"She's right, ya know? Go get some sleep; we can finish up here."

Giving his friends a grateful smile, Seifer decided to take the advice and the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. Standing and making his way to his room as quickly as his tired body would allow, the scarred man stripped sweat soaked clothing from a muscular frame and took a quick shower. Clean, he then donned a pair of boxers, slid into bed and, as soon as he'd gotten comfortable, he fell asleep.

Ice blue eyes opened on familiar fog and darkness but his usual companion was nowhere to be seen. Glancing around at the nothingness, Seifer frowned in confusion before the sound of a muffled sob reached his ears. Following the noise, he walked farther into the inky blackness until a familiar figure began to emerge. Huddled against what appeared to be a boulder was Hayner, curled in on himself and crying.

Approaching the teen cautiously, Seifer crouched down near enough to touch him and reached out a hand. "Hayner?"

Breath hitched as the young summoner wiped his eyes, keeping his face averted from the man waiting nearby. After a couple of minutes, a short mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "It figures that even in the middle of nowhere I can't find myself alone for long enough to vent."

Seifer's lips compressed into a tight line; he'd never seen the younger blonde so upset and he found it distressing. Shifting forward slightly, he waited. After a minute, his patience was rewarded as the younger man sighed and turned so that his face was now visible to the soldier beside him.

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit, you look like hell." It was true, Seifer could see the stress etched in lines on the summoner's face and the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

"That good, huh."

The elder of the pair studied the man next to him for a moment before shifting into a more comfortable position. "Talk to me, Hayner."

The younger man looked as though he would protest, drawing himself up a little, but just as suddenly, his posture deflated and he just looked tired and defeated. "I don't even know where to start."

"What set this off? I've never seen you break down before."

For a moment Hayner looked almost angry. "Oh yes, the infallible Turk summoner; I must obviously no long be human since I commune with otherworldly beings and therefore must also be devoid of emotions." He snapped and then winced. "Sorry."

Seifer just nodded in acknowledgement of the apology and remained silent, waiting.

Hayner chewed on his lower lip and then sighed. "This war…it's destroying everything. The fighting has been worse than what anyone imagined and the amount of people killed…" He shuddered. "I can't even go out alone anymore. It doesn't matter if I'm a Turk or not, or that I'm fighting against the summoners that started the war; because I'm a summoner I must also be a threat. According to some of the protestors that are currently camped outside, I'm a mole who will betray the Turks at the first available opportunity, handing the victory over to my fellow summoners."

Seifer scowled. "That's ridiculous."

"Tell them that." Hayner replied with a strained smile. He chewed on his lip a bit more and then in a small voice that Seifer had to lean forward to hear he said, "I killed a friend of mine today." He took a deep breath. "We grew up together but when the war started, he joined up with the other summoners while I stayed with the Turks. I figured it was such a huge war with so many people that I'd likely never even see him again." The blonde swallowed as tears began running down his face. "There was a group of summoners holed up in the mountains west of where we were stationed; they'd been disrupting supply lines and causing trouble for the nearby towns so we were sent in with another group of soldiers to clear them out. After a couple of hours I was ordered to finish it…so I did." The tears were coming faster now and Seifer's eyes burned just watching them. "I didn't know until after…until I saw…"

Hayner broke down as sobs once again racked his small frame. Seifer reached forward to comfort the distraught teen but, like so many times before, was stopped a few inches short by some sort of barrier that continued to keep them apart. He growled in frustration, feeling inadequate and helpless in the face of the grief he could do nothing to ease.

"Hayner…I want to do something…I want to but I…"

A noise that sounded half laugh, half sob escaped the young summoner. "I know; you're probably one of the only ones that does…and you can't. Not even here."


Seifer awoke with a start, waves of grief and anger rolling over him as he struggled with his inability to do anything about the scene he had both witnessed and been a part of. Pacing the length of his room like a trapped predator in need of an outlet, the scarred soldier let out a string of curses before suddenly turning towards the nearest wall and punching a hole in it with his fist. As Seifer stared at the damage he'd caused to the wall as well as to the knuckles on his right hand he came to the reluctant conclusion that if he continued on the way he was, he might actually go insane.


Several days later as Seifer was on his way to yet another training session, he was intercepted by a messenger bearing a summon from his Commander, Zack. Curious as to what the man could want on such short notice, Seifer changed directions and headed upstairs. Finding the door to Zack's office already open, he entered and then closed it when the man behind the desk motioned for him to do so.

Zack held up a folder once Seifer was seated. "The preliminary reports from the research teams have come in."

Seifer sat up straighter. "And?"

"It was a total wash, it looks like someone got to all of the locations before us; anything of use is already gone." The dark haired man leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Even worse is that it looks as though the looting was done recently."

That got Seifer's attention. "The summoners?"

Zack nodded. "That's the theory; someone has access to at least the same information that we do only they acted on it sooner." He grimaced. "If it was the summoners, they most likely had already salvaged what they could before even beginning to gather together."

"Shit. I told you we shouldn't only be relying on the concrete information; we should have been chasing the rumors too."

"Well, luckily for you, the top brass now agrees with that opinion and I've been given leave to put a less official team together to run down the not quite as solid leads. With trouble brewing, we can't afford to ignore even one possible advantage; especially now. So, pack your things; we have a base to find."

Seifer nodded and stood, exiting the office quickly; with time pressing down on them all, there would be no time to waste. As he reached his rooms and began packing what he thought would be needed during his time away the blonde soldier couldn't help but feel a small thrill of anticipation; he was one step closer. One more step.


Several days later, Seifer and a handful of others including Zack and Seifer's two best friends, Rai and Fuu, stood in the middle of a large field about 200 miles southwest of Balamb Garden. Seifer was surveying the area and jotting down notes in a small notepad while Fuu was setting up some equipment with the help of her boyfriend. When it looked as if Seifer had finished in his task, Zack joined him in looking out over the area.

"So this is the place, huh? I am…slightly underwhelmed."

Seifer smirked. "Not for long."

Quirking an eyebrow in his direction, Zack merely followed after his subordinate as he rejoined his friends and made some adjustments to the setup they'd completed. Another member of the team, Demyx, joined them as Seifer was finishing up.

"I still say you're daft, man…there's no way there was ever a base here. There would be ruins here if there had been." He took a bite out of an apple he'd been tossing between his hands. This is just a big waste of time."

Seifer ignored him a minute before stepping back and motioning for Fuu to take over. "The Turks prided themselves on having extremely well hidden outposts and supply depots; just what makes you think their main base would be any different? There wouldn't be any point to having the location remain a secret if it would be easy to spot."

"Hmph. I still say you're off your rocker."

Seifer looked to Fuu and she nodded. "READY."

"Go ahead and start."

Fuu punched in a few keys and waited; nothing happened. "Try the next." A few more keys but still nothing. The silver haired woman kept working while Demyx snorted. "See? A colossal waste of time. I'm telling you, we should have…"

Before Demyx could finish what he was going to say, the ground began to shake and about 20 yards away, a small section of earth was slowly rising out of the ground to reveal what appeared to be an elevator going down. As the doors slid open, Demyx dropped his apple and stared with bulging eyes. Seifer grinned in satisfaction. "Like I said; if it were easy to spot, it wouldn't be much of a secret, would it?"

Zack let out a low whistle. "Just how did you manage that?"

The scarred blonde shrugged. "I figured that if I was right about this being the place, and given that there was no physical evidence visible that it had been destroyed, that the only logical explanation was for the base to be located underground. After that it was just a matter of finding every known Turk code; since they'd need some way to gain access to their own base, it only made sense that there would be some sort of electronic signal to allow entry."

While Demyx continued to stare, and Zack shook his head in amazement, Seifer made his way over to the now exposed elevator shaft. He looked back over his shoulder before entering. "Are you coming or not?"

"We'll be right behind you; this is your find, anyway." With a grin, Zack turned and began issuing orders to those remaining while Fuu and Rai joined their friend.

"ENTER?"

"Absolutely."

Seifer made room for his friends to join him inside the elevator before closing the doors and sending it down. After a couple of minutes the trio reached their destination and as the doors slid open, Seifer was surprised to find that his mouth had gone dry and his pulse had quickened. Here was what he'd been searching for and maybe, finally, he'd have some answers. Fuu, understanding at least in part, what Seifer was going through, placed a hand on his arm and waited. He looked down at the petite woman and gave a mirthless smile. "Alright, let's see what we can find."


The Past: Final Battle of the Summoner Wars-

Approximately 6 hours after the attack by the Unknown Summon

Waking up without any idea of where you are or how you got there was bad enough, but waking up to find yourself chained to a wall was worse. Not that Hayner minded the chains…it just would have been nice to have had some say in the matter. He groaned a little as he raised his head and opened his eyes, squinting a little at the brightness. Around him, he could hear similar protestations as the other Turks similarly woke up to their current situation.

"Is everyone alright?"

Hayner turned his head to the left to see Cloud, who was taking stock of his own injuries while attempting to see everyone else's. Past Cloud, the younger Strife could see Reno and their sharpshooter, Vincent, both injured though not severely; all were strung up like marionettes much like Hayner was.

"We're fine…though I wouldn't count on staying that way, all things considered." Hayner turned his head back the other way to look at the Turk's main intelligence officer, Zexion.

"We aren't done yet!" Reno protested with some heat.

"He's right." Cloud put in, looking around at their surroundings. "Cid, analysis?"

The Turk mechanic grunted. "Airship. Hell if I know which one but I bet I can tell you what side it belongs to." He studied the large machine in the center of the room that the group was arranged around. "All I know about that thing is that it's some sort of generator but it's unlike any I've ever seen; without being able to study it up close I can't tell you what it's for."

"Our gear is over here," Rikku piped up. "And can see my supplies; if we can get free I can blow this place to hell."

Cloud nodded. "We need an escape first; Hayner?"

"My mana's been drained; it'll take a while for me to regain enough to summon something large enough to get us all out of here. If we can get free, though, I can…"

"Well, well. It seems you're all awake…and plotting escape. I admire your tenacity but I assure you it will be quite impossible for you to do so."

Seven heads swiveled in near unison at the sound of the familiar voice and Hayner's stomach dropped when he saw his fears confirmed. Stepping out of the shadows created by the large generator was Sephiroth, General Sephiroth, the man leading the defense against the Summoners and, at least temporarily, the man the Turks had been deferring to over the course of the war. Shock and disbelief filtered across the other member's faces as they came to the same realization that Hayner had…all except for Cloud, who was glaring at the man before them and Vincent, who rarely showed that much emotion.

The general smirked. "Have you figured it out yet?" He turned to Hayner and the young man's mouth went dry. "I know your youngest member has."

"You've betrayed us all; you've sided with the Summoners and are…" Hayner's eyes narrowed and then widened as he looked at the man before him. "No…you are a summoner; the Summon that attacked us…that was yours."

Sephiroth threw his head back and laughed delightedly as a string of curses exploded from both Cid and Reno. "Oh, very good; yes, very good indeed." The silver haired man strolled closer to his captives and stopped in front of the Turk summoner, a thoughtful look on his face. "I was going to kill you all before launching the final and decisive strike in this war but I think I'll let you live; at least long enough for you all to see how futile everything you've done really was."

Turning quickly, the general approached the large generator that took up most of the room and moving to a nearby control terminal, he quickly punched in a sequence of numbers. Sephiroth watched the machine power up and then grinned in satisfaction when the upper portion opened up to reveal what looked to be several pieces of Time Materia suspended within a stream of energy. As the materia began glow, Sephiroth turned to the Turks and gestured to the apparatus behind him.

"Behold the instrument of your destruction and the winning strike for the Summoners in this war."

"He always did have a flair for the overly dramatic." Reno muttered.

Rikku snorted in derision. "Oh yes, because Time materia will do what nothing else could. Even if you use that to cast Haste or Slow on huge groups of people, that won't guarantee you the war."

Sephiroth just laughed. "Short sighted little fool. Why should I bother attempting to influence this pointless war when I can simply set myself up in a time before anyone knew how to defend against summoners and then conquer everything? If it makes you feel any better, none of you will be around to see it." His grin was full of malice. "In fact, none of you may ever end up being born to begin with."

The general turned and watched as the generator proceeded to gather and pour more energy into the materia held within. Every so often, they would flair a little, a sign of instability that could possibly be used to the Turks' advantage; if they could get free in time to act. As the man before them began muttering under his breath, Cloud turned to Hayner and quietly got his attention, raising a single eyebrow in question. Hayner knew what he was asking about and nodded, seeing a spark of determination light the other man's eyes before closing his own to concentrate. While it was true that he was out of mana, what most people didn't know was that he'd been working on a backup plan for just such a hopeless occasion.

The young summoner had learned quite by accident that dead materia, while no longer useful for their original purpose, could be used instead as a way to store mana; and that was what Hayner had been doing, little by little, when he had any mana to spare outside of the constant fighting. Reaching out with his mind towards the materia he knew was laying with the rest of the Turks' gear, the younger man strained and felt the mana slip through his grasp. Biting back a growl of frustration- There was no time! - He took a deep breath and tried again. The mana was slippery, this far away, and Hayner's mental fingers struggled to find purchase until, at last, he grabbed hold and pulled.

Eyes opening with a flash of light, Hayner called the fire and it came, melting through the chains that held him suspended. Sephiroth turned at the surge of mana in time to see the younger male drop to the ground but not in time to protect himself from the blast of pure energy that was hurled at his chest. As the silver haired man flew through the air and was slammed against the opposite wall, Hayner quickly turned and melted the chains holding the rest of the Turks in place. While the rest of his comrades hurried to re-arm themselves, Hayner turned back to face the now livid general as he picked himself up off of the ground, drawing his sword as he regained his footing.

"So," He snarled. "I see I should have killed you first after all. No matter, that is a mistake I will be happy to rectify."

Lunging forward, the enraged man swung for the summoner as Hayner hastily cast a Barrier spell in defense and rolled out of the way. Readjusting his grip, Sephiroth prepared to attack again but instead was forced to block as Vincent fired off a shot from one of his guns. Standing from his crouch, Hayner was joined by the other members of his team as they now stood together, prepared to face off against the man that had betrayed them.

The general sneered as he lowered his sword and adjusted his stance. "Ah, the gang's all here and as you are all so willing to fight, who am I to disappoint you?"

Slamming his fist into a nearby alarm, Sephiroth watched with satisfaction as additional troops began flooding the room. Grouped together, the Turks all adjusted the grips they had on their weapons and looked to Cloud. Eyes narrowed, Cloud raised his sword and took a step forward.

"We end this. Now!"

Breaking apart, the Turks charged forward towards the waiting soldiers and straight into chaos.


The Present: Inside the Turks' Main Base

The base was dark with only a few flickering lights along the corridor to show the way. Pulling a flashlight from the inside pocket of his jacket, Seifer flicked it on and made his way down the long hall, sweeping the beam of light back and forth with his two friends in tow. The hall opened up into a large room with several other doors leading out of it, as well as another elevator and a set of stairs. The room itself appeared made for nothing more than relaxation as it was furnished with several different couches, chairs and tables. Moving farther into the space, Seifer saw what looked to be a partially finished game of chess sitting off to the side and couldn't help but wonder if it had been the war that had interrupted the game or something else.

Continuing through the middle of the room, the blonde soldier chose a door at random and proceeded to move farther into the base. After about an hour, the trio had identified a gym, dining area, several storage rooms, a few bathrooms, another seating area, what looked to be a hydroponics lab and a fully stocked weapons locker. As they made their way back to the main room, they found Zack issuing orders as the other members of the team were unpacking. Lights had been set at various points around the room so Seifer turned his flashlight off and stowed it back in his pocket as he approached his commander.

"Well?"

"West wing of the first floor appears to be mostly common areas except for some storage and a weapons locker."

"Anything there we can use?"

Rai grinned. "Fully stocked, ya know? Can't wait to get in there…"

Seifer gave his own grin at the excitement in his friend's eyes; Rai's interest had always been with the fighting skills and weaponry utilized by the Turks so this must've been like an early Christmas present for the man.

Zack also gave the man a knowing look before returning his attention to Seifer. "What about the East Wing?"

"We didn't find much; the rooms we could access were all empty and the rest were locked down. Without either breaking in or getting this place up and running so we could open them properly, I can't tell you what's behind them." He crossed his arms. "From the look of the empty rooms, they would probably be living quarters but there weren't enough for every Turk so there will most likely be more on a different level."

Zack nodded. "Alright. First things first, we need to find a way to restore the power here so the priority is going to be finding both the control room as well as the generators; there's no telling how long the emergency power will last. Since we know neither are on this floor, we'll split up and send different teams to the remaining floors." He paused. "Any idea how big this place might be?"

Seifer shook his head. "At least three but it wouldn't surprise me to find more than that…maybe five or six depending on what was kept here."

"Okay, why don't you three take the next floor down and I'll take another group to the level below that; I'm guessing the generators would be on the lowest level so see if you can find the control room."

With a plan in mind, Rai and Fuu each grabbed one of the lamps that were sitting nearby as Seifer fished his own light back out. Heading down the next set of stairs, the trio continued their search, and with every step, the blonde soldier felt his nerves tighten a little more. Even though he knew it was unlikely, he couldn't help but entertain visions of walking into a room only to find the bodies of the missing Turks; Hayner's body… Banishing the thought, Seifer continued checking rooms until a shout from Rai had him trotting back down to the other side of the hall.

"We found the control room, ya know?"

Seifer entered and surveyed the room; there was a long row of computer terminals on the far side with smaller stations scattered throughout. Peeking into a side room revealed a few more workstations as well as some equipment Seifer couldn't immediately identify. Turning back, the scarred man saw Fuu already at work checking over the equipment and attempting to bring one of the smaller terminals online. After a few minutes, the screen flickered to life and the work began in earnest. Gaining access to the security protocols, Fuu began working to unseal the locked doors but was met instead with a message warning about the low emergency power.

"GENERATORS."

Seifer ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Rai, go find Zack and let him know we found the control room but that without power, we won't be able to manage much. Fuu, I know you don't have much to work with, but see if you can at least find the blueprints for this place." They both nodded. "I'm going to continue looking around this floor; yell if either of you need anything."

Exiting the room, Seifer continued down the hall he'd started exploring while Rai doubled back to find Zack and his team. A couple more bedrooms, some workrooms and an infirmary had Seifer coming to the last room in the hall; the door was unlocked but seemed to be stuck. A few minutes spent tending the hinges and applying a great deal of pressure had the door suddenly swinging open with the soldier stumbling past the doorway and into the center of the room. He found himself in another small sitting room, this one with another door off to the right that appeared to lead to a bedroom. Raising his light for a better look, Seifer froze; he knew whose room this was…he'd heard it talked about too many times not to. The bed on the left wall was unmade with various articles of clothing tossed at the end of it and the desk on the far side was littered with half-finished reports and an empty glass. While the reports might tell Seifer something, it was the sketches hanging on the wall above the desk that caught his attention. He'd remembered Hayner talking about them – Dream, it was just a dream – Lowering the hand he'd unconsciously raised, Seifer instead turned towards the shelves on the right side. There, on the center shelf, was a picture of Hayner and his cousin, Cloud…Seifer remembered him talking about that day too…

Letting out a growl of frustration, Seifer crossed back over to the desk and sat down, dropping his head to rest in his hands. He'd come all this way and had found more in twenty years than anyone else had in the last two hundred yet he wasn't satisfied; what good was finding Hayner's belongings when all he really wanted was to find the man himself…and not go crazy doing it.


The Past: The Final Fight

The Turks were exhausted but they fought on anyway. Most of the soldiers had been either knocked out or killed but Sephiroth was still fighting and there was no sign of him giving ground. Reno and Cid fought back to back against one of the remaining groups of soldiers while Rikku had managed to run off, Vincent in tow, to find and disable the airship's engines. Zexion was down from a shot to his left leg but still managed to help his team with the occasional shot and Hayner was throwing whatever he had at anyone in his way while watching the downed man. Spying another soldier taking aim at Cloud's back while he fought against the general, Hayner shot off an ice spell and watched as the man fell, frozen, to the ground. A noise from behind recaptured Hayner's attention, however, and he turned to see that the generator had finished powering up and was now sending off sparks of energy as it prepared to activate the Time materia within. Hayner wasn't the only one to notice, either.

Grinning in triumph, Sephiroth threw his weight behind his next attack, sending Cloud reeling back in an attempt to regain his balance. "It's too late; I've won and you have all failed!"

Cloud surged back towards his opponent but was stopped short as a bolt of energy shot out through the materia in the generator and hit the ground in front of him. Blinking to clear his eyes, Hayner couldn't believe what he was seeing; about six feet in front of him was what could at best be described as a shimmering portal. It was like looking through a window only there was no frame and it certainly wasn't any place he'd ever seen before. Sephiroth laughed as he moved towards what Hayner would have before called the impossible. I can't let him leave! Searching desperately for a way to stop the man he knew he couldn't currently beat, Hayner did the only thing that he could do, and sent a lightning spell directly at the generator with all the mana he left. The spell hit the generator just as the power flowing through the materia surged, and the materia, unable to stand up to that type of pressure, shattered into fragments. Energy arcing, the portal Sephiroth was about to step through disappeared only to be replaced with dozens of others, all of varying sizes and stability.

Sephiroth let out a howl of rage as he began advancing on the now drained summoner only to be rocked back by an enormous explosion coming from the bowels of the ship. While the Turks and remaining soldiers righted themselves, Rikku and Vincent came running back into the room.

"Premature detonation, I repeat, we have premature detonation!" The blonde girl shrieked as she skidded to a halt. "We need to get off this airship, now!" Another explosion tore through the ship and the remaining soldiers fled.

The sound of a sword being sheathed had Hayner looking up to see that Sephiroth had put away his weapon and was making his way over to the nearest stable portal. "Cloud, he's getting away!"

Cloud looked up and began running towards the silver haired general, but it was too late; with one last sneer the man jumped through the opening and the portal closed behind him.

"Son of a BITCH! Now what're we supposed to do?" Reno snapped.

"We need a way off of the ship; I've no intention of going down with it." Zexion replied, standing with Rikku's help. "Hayner?"

The blonde shook his head. "I'm out; I drained the last of the mana I had stored and I don't have any more materia."

"No choice then, we exit like Sephiroth did." Vincent said, holstering his gun.

"But how do we know which one to choose? We don't know where we'll end up!" Rikku chimed in. "I'm not going somewhere I can't blow things up."

A third large explosion rocked the ship and the group staggered as the vessel began losing altitude. Hayner growled in frustration. "We either take our chances or we die with the ship; if we don't make a choice soon we're sunk either way."

"Everyone spread out and look for any portals stable enough for us all to get through." Cloud ordered, putting his own weapon away. "We haven't got much time."


The Present: The Turk Base

After three days, Seifer had managed to thoroughly explore the Turk base from top to bottom; all except the places he and the rest of the team couldn't access due to the security lockdown. Zack still hadn't managed to get the generators up and running although they did find them in better condition than expected so while a few members like Rai and Fuu had work to keep them busy, Seifer himself did not. There were only so many times the soldier could work out or train in a single day so it wasn't surprising that he found himself drawn more and more to Hayner's rooms. Over the last few days he'd discovered more about the man himself as he read over reports and letters that were found in the desk and as he also looked over the items he'd felt important enough to keep.

Sitting back on the couch, Seifer got comfortable and continued leafing through his latest find; Hayner's journal. Most of the pages were full of what anyone would expect to find in a journal; observations and complaints as well as a fairly colorful commentary about the people he worked with. Seifer learned more about the Turks themselves just by reading through the book he now held than any other book written by whatever scholar thought they knew best. It wasn't until he got near the end of the entries, though, that things began to change. Roughly six years before the beginning of the Summoner Wars, Hayner began talking about his dreams, which wasn't uncommon, but when he began mentioning the addition of a blonde man with ice blue eyes…

Shock and something else jolted through Seifer's system as he read over the passage again; it just wasn't possible. There's just no way… Before he could read the passage a third time, however, a shout from the hall outside got his attention. Putting the book down he got up and opened the door to find Demyx staring at a small spot of light floating in the middle of the corridor.

Blue eyes narrowed. "What the hell?"

Demyx spun around at the sound of his voice and looked almost relieved to see him. "There you are; Zack sent me to find you. These things," He motioned to the glowing spot in front of him, "have just started appearing all over the place and he wanted everyone spread out to check the base over."

"Some kind of security system?"

Demyx shook his head. "Not as far as anyone can tell. They're random and in different sizes; I swear I saw something through one but it disappeared before I could get a better look. Someone else said they're outside, too but I haven't been up to check."

Seifer nodded and began moving down the hall. "Where does Zack want me?"

"Check the first level; most of us are in the lower two or outside. I'm going to check in with Zack and then will be up to help you."

Separating at the stair well, Seifer went up and stared in shock. The main room was filled with the softly glowing lights varying in size and shape. As he walked towards the center of the room, some of the larger lights he'd been walking towards began to coalesce until, with a bright flash, a sort of large window opened. Seifer carefully approached it and felt his mouth go dry at what he saw; standing on the other side with debris falling around him, was Hayner.

Without hesitation, he filled his lungs and yelled.


The Past: The Final Fight

Hayner didn't need to be told twice and while the rest of the Turks spread out near the generator looking for a stable portal, he ran to search farther out. Spying a bit of light on the far side of the room he began making his way over, dodging debris along the way, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sound of his name.

"HAYNER!"

Whipping his head around, the startled summoner found himself looking into a pair of ice blue eyes, familiar eyes, on the other side of a portal, a stable portal. Shaking off his paralysis, Hayner quickly bellowed to the other Turks that he'd found a way out and turned back to the pale man on the other side.

"You may want to stand back; there are a lot of us coming through."


Too shocked to argue, Seifer backed out of the way as the rest of the Turks came into view and began barreling towards the opening. Vincent was first along with Zexion, whom he was still supporting, followed by Reno, Rikku and Cid. Only Cloud and Hayner were left but as the pair headed for the portal, a support beam detached from the ceiling, headed right for them. Not stopping to think, Hayner shoved Cloud out of the way, sending him through with the rest of the Turks. Attempting to dodge, the summoner was only partially successful and the resulting hit left him lying dazed on the ground.

Seifer watched with horror as Hayner was hit and went down, not moving, but the words he heard next were worse.

"The portal's losing stability; he's not going to make it!"

Not bothering to consider any alternative, the scarred man pushed through the Turks and jumped through the opening back to where the summoner was struggling to rise. Honey brown eyes met blue as he hoisted the younger male to his feet and the sound of bending metal echoed through the ship like a dying scream. It took a yell from behind him to startle the soldier back into action.

"We have to go."

Adjusting his grip on the man beside him, Seifer turned and charged back through the portal as it began to collapse, dragging the younger man with him.

"What the hell is going on in here?" The sound of an explosion and an unknown voice letting off a string of curses had Zack charging back up to the first floor with the rest of his subordinates right behind him. Thinking the worst, he'd grabbed his sword on the way up and was just raising it to confront the threat beyond the first floor doorway when he stopped in confusion and shock a few steps in. Lowering his weapon, the dark haired man could only stare at the sight that met his eyes. Sprawled in the middle of the floor was the entire Turk squad, looking a little worse for wear, and just past them was Seifer holding their youngest member, looking as though he never planned to let him go.

A/N 2: I really hope this chapter was okay...it gave me a terrible headache just getting through it. -.- My goal is to have another chapter of something up before Christmas though there's a lot going on right now; as always, I would appreciate any reviews as they make my day and I get motivated to write after reading them! 3