forgiven4ever, skipping along and humming: Hey, hey, that's freedom you hear, comin' right to your ear, that's the sound from our bus, hey, hey.

Loz: It's about time you came along! We thought you had abandoned us!

Tifa: I had to deal with him for about two months!

Loz: -wink- You know you love me.

Tifa: I wanted to be with Cloud! -cries and runs off-

forgiven4ever: Aw, don't worry, Loz, she'll come around. -gives him a pack of muffin mix- Here, make some muffins and you'll feel better.

:Loz mopes and leaves(give him a hug, somebody!):

forgiven4ever: Okay, enough drama, let's get onto the fic! Shout-outs to; BlueWings92, Tempi-chan, pangpond, narutofan1091, Black Sheep of Death, silenceinlight, and Yazoo IS Superior. And of course, to me anonymous readers;

Cold Comp: AWWIE! Thankies! Sissy was very happy. It's one of her favorite wallpapers she's made, but she's got a lot, including Aeriroth, AkuNami, RikuNami, and some other junk. You should check her out. It's shibara1310 on here and on DeviantArt. Don't worry some violence shall be in this chap. Here's your update! God bless.

GrandFighter: Yikes, already? Ehhhh...I might change the rating after this chapter, I'll ask people on every chapter from now on if it should be rated M. So, your vote is taken into consideration and we're one step closer to this being rated M. Thankies so much. Long live CRACK PAIRINGS! God bless!

Air-Energyxxx: I probably shouldn't have said that...-scratches ear- We're...um,...going to slaughter her in October so she'll feed us until the new year. Yeah, we shouldn't have named her, but Older Sissy was persistant. Yikes. We won't slaughter her though, my dad couldn't do that and it will be quick, I know the man who's going to do it. I'm very happy you've enjoyed the last chapter! Yes, I made Loz likable! I was hoping to achieve that. Yay. :) Oh, yeah, Sephy's got it in for Aeris. Dark Yazfie coming up, so prepare youself. Lol. I will update Remnant's Love around September. Sorry. Here's your update though. God bless!


Caught

"Marlene, come on," Tifa urged, shoving the young girl's belongings into a large, musty, grey duffle bag along with her son's clothing. "We need to go, sweetie."

It was hard to tell all of the temporary residents to leave the premises, but when they were informed the Rulers might come over, they were immediately up and about, trying to collect their clothing in a matter of seconds. However, with the kids it was more difficult for them to realize that their lives were in danger. They liked to believe that no one could ever beat Tifa, Yuffie, and Aeris. Tifa's adopted son, Denzel, liked to hope that he would one day avenge Cloud's death and overcome Sephiroth. A young teen's dark dreams that would hardly come true. Barret's daughter, Marlene, taken in by Tifa, prayed for the Rulers' downfall. More and more did that young girl began to look like Aeris, as did Denzel looked more and more like Cloud every passing day. The young teen even carried one of Cloud's swords, carrying the oversized weapon the same way Tifa's childhood friend had. Now the young teen was keeping watch, spying through the blinds of the filthy windows, and the little girl was sitting on her bed with a picture of herself and her deceased father in her lap.

"Why do we hide, Tifa?" the small, fragile girl inquired, stroking the glass of the frame where her father's face laid beneath with her fingertips. She was only four in the picture, but she would never forget her father always carrying her on his broad dark shoulder, and laughing with some of his drinking buddies about some joke they muttered drunkenly.

"Because, if we don't, bad men will kill us without as much as blinking an eye," Tifa answered with haste as she tied the duffel bag tightly close. The nylon rope zipped as it was pulled abruptly. Looking up to see her son in the room adjacent to them, Tifa saw Denzel warily monitoring the street below them. "Denzel! Come on!"

"I'm watching for them," the adolescent boy protested lazily, leaning a bit to the right to get a better view.

"Yuffie's doing that already, honey," Tifa informed him and then called to him yet again. "Denzel, come over here," she commanded. Reluctantly, the boy complied by sauntering over to his mother. The young woman handed Denzel the bag and he slung it over his shoulder. "I'm trusting you to take care of Marlene, all right?"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Denzel interjected quickly, not thinking his mother would be telling him this. "You're coming with us."

"Don't stop, Denzel," Tifa implored as tears began to form in her wine-colored eyes. "Take the ship to Costa del Sol."

"Mom?" Denzel called to her, to stop her rambling, but it was no use for it fell upon deaf ears.

Tifa stopped for only a moment to rummage for something in her drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. Turning back to her children, she shoved this paper into her son's hands, with the paper squeaking in protest from being squeezed, and held onto his hands tightly as she looked into her son's hazel eyes. "Give this to the innkeeper; he'll take care of you two," she told them.

"Tifa?" Marlene choked, her lower lip quivering. This was happening way to fast for the young girl.

"We'll join you in a week or so," Tifa promised them, but even that was not enough for her children. For them, they wanted all of them to be together, not just some vague promise of a chance meeting.

"No, no, Mom!" Denzel shouted, shaking his head. "You're coming with us."

"Tifa . . . !" Yuffie's voice cried from downstairs in a tone that meant trouble was coming hard and fast. "SOLDIERs at ten 'o' clock!"

Biting her lip, the older woman pulled away from her son and dove for the window, quickly lifting up the pane. Leaning out some, Tifa spotted an old trusted friend and waved to him in the alley. "Kazu!" she hissed. "Ready?"

"I've been waiting for fifteen minutes!" complained the burly man below. "Hurry up! People are saying the Rulers will be here in five minutes or less! Get them kids out of there!"

Retreating from the window, Tifa faced her children who stood before her with sorrow written in their eyes. Slowly, Tifa stretched out her hand to them, for them to accept this uncharted path. It was difficult for Tifa to send her own children off without any hope of contacting them even if they reach to safety. A tear cascaded down her right cheek as Denzel and Marlene rushed to her, clutching at her clothing when they wrapped their arms around her torso. Kissing their heads, blessing them on this dangerous quest, Tifa unwillingly pulled away to help them through the window.

There was an old, rusty fire escape right under the window, so it was simple to get out with the duffle bag, but further toting the bag would be a nuisance, so Denzel tossed the duffle bag down below where Kazu caught it with a simple grunt emitting from his bearded lips. Motioning Marlene to wait a moment, Denzel tested the rusty ladder and nodded in approval before proceeding down into the dark alley and assisted Marlene. Never thinking he would cry ever since Cloud's death, Denzel looked up in the window above where his mother was watching them with wide eyes that were brimming with tears, and he let a single tear escape his eye and it glided to his left ear which shocked it from the sudden wetness. After taking a deep breath, Denzel acknowledged the burly man who stood beside Marlene who still clutched desperately to her picture, and the three headed out quickly to merge with the departing crowds that were frantic to get away. Before they disappeared around the corner of the other building, Marlene and Denzel locked eyes with their mother once more before they disappeared in the smog that shrouded them too quickly for Tifa. It was then that Tifa clamped her mouth with both of her hands to hold back the sobs she could barely contain.

Downstairs, Yuffie was fingering her oversized shruiken; the Conformer, huddled by the front window of the musty parlor that was used for weary travelers, whilst the healer was helping the people evict the premises, and Tifa was still upstairs, mourning over the decision of smuggling her kids to safety. It was hard for Tifa, but she could not let the Rulers know about Marlene and Denzel. The young ninja loved those kids and would kill anyone who would even think of hurting them. Squinting through the filthy window, Yuffie took calming deep breaths as she watched the uniformed men scout the streets ahead. With this many troops, the ninja thief know those silver haired men would be coming around, hunting for them.

Just then, Yuffie spotted the said silver haired remnants a couple blocks down from the building, following a homeless man wearing a hunter green jacket and was outstretching his arm, pointing at the residence where the three surviving members of AVALANCHE lived. When the sons of Jenova looked over, Yuffie cursed, jumping back from the window. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Midgar slums' flower girl, gently wrapping a warm white fleece blanket around an elderly man's hunched shoulders with loving care. Time was of the essence. They all had to get out . . . now.

Putting her hands together in a loud clapping sound, Yuffie directed commands toward the frantic people who were still gathering their precious belongings. "Let's go! Go, go, go! They're coming 'round the front! Go to the back! The back!" she emphasized, jumping up and throwing her arms in the direction of the back exit. "Crunch time, peoples! Go! Go! Go!"

With that outcry, more people evacuated, almost crowding the back door out of desperation. It made it more difficult for the last remaining Cetra to join Yuffie at the window with all the tenants almost dragging her to the exit. But miraculously, the twenty-five year old managed to push through the current of oncoming people, ready to receive any information from her friend. Panting in quick, shuddering breaths, Aeris stood behind Yuffie, looking over her shoulder, to perceive the horrid fate that awaited them outside.

"Damn," Yuffie swore, clenching her hand around her large weapon. "It's that rat bastard Hiichiro."

Aeris wrung her hands nervously and shyly in remembrance of the thirty-two old man. "Oh, . . . him," she murmured softly.

"I should have castrated him and cut his friggin' tongue out," Yuffie grunted, shifting her weight some to see if she could get a better view of the enemies just fifty yards away from their building. "I should have known he would snitch on us."

"Should we exit through the back door or through the attic?" Aeris whispered, her hands clasped tightly together and brought to her fully pink lips, unconsciously rubbing her lower lip with her right thumb as she silently prayed to her ancestors for guidance. Her answer came from the back part of the house when the two young women heard the sound of glass shattering.

"Open up!" a gruff voice, ordered harshly. "We know you're in there! The building is completely surrounded! Surrender, and you will die a quick and painless death as do the Rulers vow to honor!"

Yuffie scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Bullshit," the princess declared suddenly, and then drove her right hand into her front pocket. Smirking when she pulled her hand out, clutching onto a black circular disc made of smooth plastic and three inches in diameter, Yuffie twirled her prize in her fingers. These little discs were a present from Godo before his death. Soldiers of her country had come up with these powerful little discs, and Godo thought of his daughter and gave her two boxes of them. Yuffie still had them all, saving them all for moments like this. Quickly, Yuffie brought the little black disc to her lips and kissed the smooth, flat plastic surface.

"Don't let me down," she murmured to the device, shifting her eyes to the back of the house, breathing in deeply, calmly when the glass from the back door shattered. The sound of carved wood slamming into the plastered wall of the kitchen cracked and thudded like thunder. The heavy footfalls of the soldiers bursting in, squeaked on the tile and stomping in loudly were taken into consideration.

In a quick, scurried moment, Yuffie hurled the lamented disc and watched it dart to its destination; the kitchen, and it skidded to a stop underneath the feet of the bustling soldiers who were swarming in, loaded with Tech Nines and AK-47s. There was a split moment, but to the two women, it was eternity passing when the soldiers spotted them, raising their primary weapons to taking aim upon them. And then, there was a loud eruption, emitting white toxic smoke, devouring the soldiers into its belly of white. There were yelps of pain, while the clouds of smoke were stinging their eyes and choking the oxygen out of them as they erupted loud coughing and gasps for air from their mouths.

"Go!" Yuffie yelled to Aeris and the flower girl bolted for the stairs, just as the cloud of smoke drifted into the drawing room. Yuffie twirled her large shruiken in her right hand and armed her left with another disc, rubbing it out of the nervousness coiling in her chest. Prepared the ninja was for an assault toward her, but not toward her friend.

When Aeris began to race up the stair, a gloved hand shot out from the malevolent mists, and through the broken railing, the hand ensnared Aeris' ankle, causing her to lose her footing. Now tumbling down the stairs, Aeris flipped herself over and refrained from sliding down the rest of the wooden stairs, only to look upon the one-winged angel, towering before her at the base of the stair, his leather coat flailed about him, his chest covered only by the black straps as if to tame his malicious heart. The flower girl felt her breath come out erratically as he smirked down at her, his eyes glowing.

"Hello, my dear," he greeted in a suave tone, taking in the claimed Cetra's form, sprawled out before him. "I've missed you."

"Sephiroth," Aeris gasped, trying to regulate her breathing, but failed miserably. Her slender fingers curled about the edge of the step she was sitting upon. "What do you want?"

Broadening his smirk, Sephiroth bent down and grabbed Aeris' right boot, yanking her down until she was basically beneath him. His unnatural green eyes glimmered at the woman under him, his slitted pupils dilated, loving his enemy quiver in fear. Right now, he was the victor and she was the prisoner. Maybe she should taste the unlimited power he beheld before she meets her ultimate fate, for she was actually a pretty little thing.

"You," he hissed and with that statement, Sephiroth lunged out his right hand and enclosed his fingers around her slim throat. Unfortunately for the one winged angel, he did not acknowledge the young woman armed with a an oversized shruiken. That is, until Yuffie made him notice her.

"F--in' bastard!" Yuffie shouted, taking a step forward to give her Conformer a more dangerous and more deadly approach, and with all her strength the Conformer left her hand, guided to Jenova's Spawn's back. But, when he heard her voice, Sephiroth whipped around and one of the Conformer's sharp blades sliced through his shoulder, cutting through the supple leather, and his flawless pale shoulder. When the skin parted, and blood flowed freely, staining the skin, and the leather jacket became slick and shone with a tint of crimson, flecks of rubies were slung about from the shruiken, splattering the stairwell, and Aeris' dress and face, as it continued its blind path, until it struck a wooden step, a foot above Aeris' head. When he was struck, Sephiroth stumbled a little from the sudden force and clutched his shoulder, but another smirk graced his pale lips when he removed his hand, for the gash was gone, the skin renewed. Yuffie cursed herself inwardly, for she had forgotten that the one-winged angel was always prepared for any type of assault; physical or magical with the assortment of shields, making him invulnerable to basically everything, which was bad for the ninja thief and the flower girl who were, at this moment, in his grasp.

"As usual, princess, your aim needs improvement," Sephiroth coolly remarked, and turned back to Aeris who made a desperate attempt to pry the embedded shruiken from the mauled wooded step it had latched itself upon. "Now, now, my pet, that's impolite," he informed her with a cruel smile. Never losing his smile, he pounced upon the unsuspecting woman, snatching her right wrist and pulled her up to her feet. Before he could regain his height, Yuffie leapt upon his muscled back, pulling his long silver hair to throw his head back and then threw her right arm across his long pale neck that was now exposed to her and began to constrict him despite that he had a free hand squeezing her arm gruffly, nearly breaking her bone. Aeris tried to help her friend by smacking Sephiroth with all her might on his pale toned chest with her small fist, but it was to no avail.

"Yazoo!" Sephiroth shouted, now dragging the two women away from the only escape route. "I have your little princess." Sephiroth then flung the younger woman upon the couch, keeping the flower girl in his murderous grasp. "Shall I?" he questioned, his eyes glinting for blood, and his fingers tightening around the handle of Masamune.

"No," Yazoo spoke up curtly, sauntering into the room, his arms dangling by his sides, though the fingers of his left hand twitched in absence of his faithful sidearm that was still laying in wait in its holster that dangled from his lower back. "I'll do it," he declared, his eyes fully upon the young ninja, defenseless upon the couch. Yuffie tried her best to cower away, but it was impossible for her to inch away any further. Softly gasping in air, Yuffie clutched the fabric of the couch, her nails scratching the woven upholstery, fearing what would happen next.

Aeris was still struggling against Sephiroth, who now had her by her wrists and was chuckling in amusement at her useless struggles. Suddenly, he pressed the sharpened edge of his long katana to the underside of her jaw, smirking at her painful wincing as the steel nicked her flawless and soft skin. When she stiffened to stop any movement to avoid any more nicks, Sephiroth removed his beloved sword, sliding it smoothly in its sheath. Still smirking, he drew her suddenly too close for her liking and bent low, placing his lips over the cut on her jaw and pressed his tongue against it, loving the taste of her sweet blood. Aeris squirmed vigorously, but it was nothing to Sephiroth but annoying, so he growled as he grasped her throat tightly, and backed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers. Aeris whimpered and let out shuddering breaths of protests and pleas, but knew it was hopeless for it fell upon deaf ears.

"Get off of her, you—"

Yazoo cut Yuffie off by smacking her hard across her face, leaving a red mark upon her cheekbone. Yuffie gave no cry or a horrid and stunned look upon her cute features like Yazoo seen in others, but a sour look upon her face as she took a moment to spit out the small amount of blood that flowed freely in her mouth. Simpering, Yazoo whipped out Velvet Nightmare and aimed it at the young ninja's face. Though, when he was about to pull the hair trigger, Hiichiro came into the room, walking boldly as ever, interrupting the two Rulers. That was not a pleasant thing to do.

Sephiroth gritted his teeth, pulling away from the flower girl who breathed a sigh of relief, but then suddenly flung her across the room, and Aeris let out a gust of breath she had held in within her, smacking into the opposite wall. The one-winged angel turned to the filthy human before him who had dared to appear cocky and independent.

"What is it?" he demanded.

Hiichiro stammered a bit, twiddling with his fingers. "His lordship outside caught sight of the third girl, and he wanted me to inform my Graces, milord, that he's gone after her," he declared, and then tugged at his moldy, tattered coat. Licking his lips, he dared to inquire, but he took a bolder approach.

"My lords?" he called and flinched when they glowered at him once more. "I was wondering about my bounty?"

"Bounty?" Sephiroth repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

Hiichiro licked his lips again, only with lust and greed, as he shifted his eyes toward the woman clad in her pink dress, which flailed about her lower half, showing off her nicely shaped legs. "I'll just have one go with her, and that would be enough," he suggested, his eyes roving over the poor flower girl's frame. It would be a perfect revenge upon the woman who had driven him out of shelter. Pickings were slim around Junon and Hiichiro had been searching for so long.

Sephiroth smirked widely as he turned to his younger brother. "I suppose so," he agreed slowly, nodding to Yazoo. "Give the human his bounty, then."

Turning on his heel, Yazoo let a small smile etch his features as he grabbed the betrayer roughly by his arm and slung him around so that Hiichiro's back was to Yuffie. The gunman raised his gun and pressed the barrel against the man's right eye, who was trembling and quaking before him, gasping in shuddered breaths from the sudden betrayal. "Your reward, sir," Yazoo purred smoothly and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Yuffie gasped, closing her eyes, feeling many wet, warm droplets splash upon her face. When she opened her eyes, she perceived a grim scene before her. There was smoke emitting from the hole where the bullet had passed through. It had splintered the eye, for pieces of it were crawling out of the perimeter of the hole. Dark crimson liquid and purple matter began to freely flow from the new opening, drenching the oily hair, and soaking Hiichiro's shirt. The carcass fell to the floor on its own with a sickening thud to reveal Yuffie the graceful assassin, his lips still curled in a simper, not concerned over the splashes of blood upon his face which contrasted his silver hair. Yuffie subconsciously licked her lips, tasting the warm liquid of someone's blood and brain tissue. It made her nauseous, and again she tried to back away from Yazoo who was now sauntering his way toward her with streaks of crimson upon his handsome face, making him more the unmerciful reaper he was. Yuffie's mind went blank as he towered over her, casting his shadow upon the little princess.


(A/N) Le gasp! A cliffhanger? Oh, the humanity! Guess you'll have to wait awhile. -smirks wickedly- I hoped you've enjoyed this chapter and please, please tell me if I should up the rating. Thank you GrandFighter for casting your vote! We have one vote for this fic being upped to M. Who else will speak up?

Loz: I'm not in this!

Tifa: I'm only in the beginning!

Loz: At least you had a part.

Aeris: Well, you're not being sexually assaulted by some crazy.

Sephiroth: Who are you calling 'crazy'?

forgiven4ever: What are you two doing here? You were in the last chapter.

Sephiroth: Your pig was in the ending note.

forgiven4ever: And she so enjoyed it, didn't ya, Darla?

Darla: -squee-

Reviews, votes, criticism, and flames are welcome very much, but flames will be used to burn my homework. School's back! Aren't you happy? -dodges thrown objects- What?? I had a boring summer. Oh, note; I'm going on vacation, and I have limited time on computer so that's one of the reasons I've been really slow on updating me fics and pics. I just finished a drawing of Yuffie from DOC if anyone cares to see it! God bless you all, and I hope you're all having a great start in school.