Yuffie sighed as she gently wiped Kadaj's forehead with a wet hand towel.

"Cloud, please hurry..." Just then she heard the front door open and stood up. "Cloud!" Not a moment later, Cloud came upstairs, Loz and Yazoo following behind him.

"Who are these guys?" Yuffie asked as she gave the two men a once-over.

"Their Kadaj's...'brothers'."

Loz shoved Yuffie out of the way before going over to Kadaj.

"You hurt my brother, you meanies!" Cloud rolled his eyes as Yazoo walked over to his brothers.

"He's been drugged with something." He turned and glared at Cloud.

"For the last time, your brother hasn't been hurt, nor did we kidnap him."

"You're lying!" Loz shouted at Cloud. Cloud shook his head and unsheathed his sword, ready to kill.

"Hey, no! Don't fight in here! My patient is trying to rest!" Yuffie huffed and grabbed both males by their ears and pulled them out of the room "Go fight outside!" She yelled before slamming the door in their face. Cloud and Loz stared at each other in silence for a long minute before sighing.

"Let's not fight.. I don't want my baby brother to worry about me.." Loz looked about ready to burst into tears so Cloud had no choice but to agree with the elder male.

"Fine. We have a truce for now, just as long as you keep the peace." He gave him a cold stare before walking downstairs. Yeah, right.. As soon as Kadaj was recovered enough all three of the remnants were going to be turned into the turks. He wasn't cold enough to turn Kadaj in while he was sick.. He let out another sigh before looking up at the ceiling. Coincidence or not, Kadaj had came to them for help, so he was going to help him until he recovered.

".. Don't make me regret this, Kadaj." He said to himself as he walked outside.

Kadaj tossed and turned in his sleep. His face held worry, as if he was having a terrible nightmare…

"Foolish boy." Sephiroth growled as he shoved Kadaj face first into the dirt. The young male let out a cry of pain as Sephiroth stepped on his back and unsheathed his masamune, stabbing Kadaj right between the shoulder blades.

"You thought mother actually loved you? You're pathetic. How could mother love a weakling such as yourself?" He smirked, digging the long blade deeper into the boy's shoulder making Kadaj cry out.

"Y-You bastard.. Mother does love me!" He glared up at the taller male, tears threatening to escape his eyes. He knew it wasn't true, but he wasn't going to give Sephiroth the satisfaction of breaking him because of it.

"Oh?" Sephiroth tilted his head, a curious smirk forming. He withdrew his blade and swung it outward, throwing the blood off of it before sheathing it once more. He grabbed a tuff of Kadaj's hair, lifting him up and whispered in his ear.

"You better prepare yourself puppet, because I'm coming back, and the next time we meet, I'll kill you." He then let go of him. Kadaj backed up a bit, catching a glimpse of that evil smirk before everything went black.

Kadaj sat up in a panic. His breath was heavy and rigged, and his face was pale as if he had seen a ghost. A minute later, Cloud ran in the room, Loz and Yazoo following behind him.

"Kadaj, what's wrong? I heard screaming, is everything alright?" Cloud asked with little emotion in his voice. Kadaj looked up at the blond and shook his head. He wasn't going to tell him about Sephiroth, not while his brothers were in the room anyway. He didn't want to worry them.

"I-It's nothing... Don't worry about it." Kadaj whispered faintly before letting out a gasp of pain. He hunched over, coughing harshly.

"Kadaj?" Yazoo ran over to his little brother, his eyes widening slightly. Right between the shoulder blades was a jagged bloodied scar. "Kadaj, where did you get that?" Yazoo whispered, pointing at his shoulder.

"Y-..You're alive-.." Kadaj started to beam before he was cut off. "What do you mean?" Kadaj asked as he removed his shirt. He stood up and looked over his shoulder, seeing the jagged scar running down his shoulder. His face grew pale and he ran into the bathroom, losing his lunch from earlier. "Oh, no.. He wasn't kidding..."

"Kadaj? What are you talking about?" Yazoo asked, staring down at his brother who looked at him in despair.

"N-Nothing.. It's nothing.." Kadaj said, wiping his mouth before standing up. He shrugged the shirt on and sat back down on the bed, hiding his face in his hands.

"Hey, you two.. Can you leave the room for a while? I need to talk to Kadaj alone." Cloud said. His eyes never left Kadaj for a second. Loz and Yazoo stared at eachother for a long moment before slowly leaving the room.

"Now.. You want to tell me what the hell is wrong with you, and where you got that scar? I'm not stupid Kadaj.. That wasn't there before. Now, tell me, otherwise I won't be able to help you. Kadaj slowly raised his head to look at him. His eyes held so much sorrow but he wouldn't cry. Not in front of anyone at least. He refused to display weakness.

"..It's Sephiroth.. He says he's coming back and when he does, he'll kill me.. but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about my brothers.. He'll try and kill them as well.. Cloud.. They never did anything wrong.. They were just following orders.. Now they'll have to pay because of me.. I don't want that to happen.. We.. no.. they never did anything wrong.. They're just lost and confused.. I know, we're just clones of Sephiroth.. We have no family and we're not wanted anywhere, but I thought it'd be nice for us to live a normal life.. All we want is a second chance, but I know what you're thinking. The second I recover you'll turn us in, am I right?" He didn't give Cloud a chance to reply. "We're nothing but scum to all of you.. Don't lie to me, I know you hate us.. You should have just left me for de-" Cloud glared at Kadaj, slapping him before he could even finish his sentence.

"I bet your brothers wouldn't want to hear you talk like that.." He sat down on the bed, and before he knew what he was doing, he wrapped his arms around Kadaj, pulling the young male into a hug.

"I know how you feel, because that's exactly how I felt after Sephiroth took Aries away from me.. I know, I'm no clone, so I feel like you don't care about my opinion, but know that this is true. You are wanted Kadaj. No one here wants you dead, at least not anymore. The past is in the past, and I believe everyone deserves a second chance, even you, Kadaj." He pulled away, looking him in the eyes and frowned at seeing the tears streaming down the younger ones face. "I thought you didn't want to display weakness in front of anyone." Cloud said with a teasing smirk, causing Kadaj to shake his head.

"I'm not crying!" He shouted with anger, wiping the tears away. "You're lying.. You hate me.. You want to kill me.."

"No, Kadaj I'm not lying to you." The male let out a sigh. "Let's make a deal-... You and your brothers can stay, live under my roof so long as you behave and help us with the work around the house. ...You deserve a second chance. Nobody's ever really given you the chance to be good, haven't they?"

Kadaj thought about this for a moment.

"If you'd like, you can try being apart of the family-.. You won't have to worry about Sephiroth any longer. All I ask, is that you don't make me regret not turning you over." and with that, Cloud left the room, leaving Kadaj to process what had just happened