FOUR – THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Dawn broke over Midgar Edge, and the city began to wake. Curtains were opened and shop clerks began to sort their stock out for the day. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted down many of the streets, and the smell of fresh coffee mingled with it. It was a cool morning, but the skies promised good weather. People began to emerge from their houses, chattering about what the upcoming day promised for them. But none of them paid any heed to thr group of nine stood outside 7th Heaven. All of them were dressed for a long journey, with sturdy boots and packs full of supplies. All of them had a form of weaponry strapped to their backs, or hung at their sides. And in those weapons, the glow of material could be seen – a myriad of greens, pinks, yellows and blues.

At the front of the group stood two people, two people who in the morning sunlight looked strikingly familiar. It was as if they were brother and sister. And people who looked at them in passing wouldn't know that insome ways, they were.

Cloud Strife looked at the group, before settling his eyes on the black clas figure of Elizabeth, "Are we all ready?"

There was a murmer of agreement, they sounded tired. It had been a long time since any of them had the possibility of such a long journey ahead of them. And they would be starting on foot, something which none of them was looking forward to.

"Do we know where we're heading yet?" Red XIII, or Nanaki, padded forward. He looked at Lizzy, his eyes full of wisdom and knowledge. For his young years, he was so knowledgeable, and no one considered him a child.

"I don't know. Something is telling me we should start in the nearest town…Kalm. It's close, and we can start things there…"

Cloud nodded, "Seems like a logical place to start. Weird things are going on right now, so if we start there we might get some answers. Kalm isn't far…we can be there by mid afternoon…"

***

The world outside of the City was a strange place, but somewhere that Lizzy felt comfortable. She had spent most of her life in the wild, walking the world and fighting the monsters that stalked the grasslands. And she had always been alone, but now? Now she was part of a group, and it was a strange concept to her. She lead them, along with Cloud. He stayed silent, a look of almost contempt on his face. The others chatted amongst themselves, and as she glanced over her shoulder she saw Reno straggling behind, massaging his temples and obviously nursing a hangover. She grinned to herself as she trudged on. It was late morning by now, and it was starting to get warm. She was beginning to wish she hadn't worn her heavy overcoat, but it had so much storage space.

This was a good time to think about things. She had dragged these poor unsuspecting people into something they shouldn't be a part of, and she felt bad about it. But she knew she couldn't do it alone, not anymore. She had spent so much of her life alone and it was time she let people in. Friends had already been made, she knew that. Vincent Valentine was a strange man who kept himself to himself, but he was nice in his own way. She liked him, she felt safe around him. Often as they walked towards Kalm Town, she felt a calming presence next to her only to look up and see Vincent next to her. And then of course there was Reno, the ever reliable Reno. Just having him beside her made her smile. He had the best sense of humour she had ever come across, was kind and gentle. It wasn't something one would expect from an Ex-Turk really. And although they had only met two days previously, she found herself becoming closer to him by the second. She liked him, found him to be an incredibly attractive man and, although she kept it to herself, she fancied the pants off him. The others were, well they were just there really. They paid little attention to her, or rarely spoke to her. Sometimes Tifa made an effort, but the airship pilot, Cid, had taken an immediate dislike to her. Yuffie was just childish, a girl who looked up to Cid and stayed close by his side at all times. The wolf, Red XIII barely said a thing but when he did he was kind, and that made Lizzy feel slightly better. Barrett was of course, himself and had taken it upon himself to be her protector, always making sure she was warm enough and had enough to eat. Something felt strange about the talking Cat, Cait Sith. And then there was Cloud, the young man who was for all intents and purposes, her brother. He rarely said a word to anyone, rarely smiled. But when he did smile, his face lit up. He was a handsome young man and she was very surprised when she heard that he and Tifa weren't together. There was such an obvious chemistry between them. But then, Vincent had told her the full story of Aeris, how Cloud had felt for her and how he was still grieving. And she understood completely. There was good reason why he couldn't smile, and why he couldn't bring himself to find solace in Tifa's arms.

"Thank you…Cloud…" her voice was small

He looked at her, his eyebrow raised quizzically, "Hmmm?"

She didn't smile, she seemed lost in her own thoughts for a moment, "…thank you…"

"What for?"

"For being here…for not thinking I'm crazy when I just showed up pretty much on your doorstep telling you Sephiroth was in my head…"

He shrugged, "No problem…"

"Cloud?"

"Mmmm?"

"Dyu think…oh forget it…"

"What?" He stopped then, looked at her with his cold eyes, "What's wrong?"

She sighed, "I'm just being stupid…I was just wondering if you could ever really be my brother? I mean…we're practically strangers!"

In that moment, a grin broke out on his face and a laugh escaped his lips, "Lizzy! We're related, I mean look at us!" he gently took her arm and swung her around to face the others while he stood next to her, "They can all see the similarities. It's like with me and Zack all those years ago! We practically looked like twins, he was my brother. But with you…? Jeez, I dunno, Lizzy. I guess so?"

She fell silent once more, biting her lip. Had that been the wrong thing to say? Had she overstepped the mark? She fell back, fell into step beside Reno. He had been strangely quiet since they left Midgar Edge, she guessed it had been from his huge alcohol consumption the previous night. As she fell into step beside him, he smiled at her and gently touched her arm in a comforting gesture. And as his fingers touched her, she flinched slightly, feeling what seemed to be an electric charge shoot through her body.

"You ok?" he asked softly

She nodded, "Yeah I guess. Feeling a little out of sorts…it's as if I'm not welcome with these guys…"

Reno grinned, "Welcome to my world sweetheart. At least you didn't try to kill 'em like I did! I'm only here, cuz you're here and I promised Barrett I'd look after you…" he trailed off, obviously struggling for words.

"Thanks Reno…I've never had a…a friend…like you before. I've always had to look after myself."

The grin didn't move from his face, "Well then, it's my job to show you what friendship really is! These guys are being like this, cuz they don't know you. Be yourself around em, it's all you can do. But know that I'll be here for ya, and so will Vincent…" he gestured at the red cloaked man who nodded his head, "And Barrett. You've got friends here, this is your mission, you're the one who came to us for help. And we're gunna do that…" he smiled at her and after what seemed like a moments hesitation he took her hand and gently kissed it.

She gasped, feeling that spark of electricity once more. As he pulled away from her and shifted his pack higher on his back, she saw a tiny spark in his eye and a smile like she had never seen before. He looked different somehow, and she felt different. But what was this feeling?

"Guys, It's Kalm Town!" Tifa's soft voice sounded from up front, "Let's go and get some food and some rest, I think we all deserve it!"

A murmer of agreement came from the small troop as they trudged their weary way towards the town gates. Lizzy hung back for a moment, watching as Reno walked ahead of her. He was deep in conversation with Vincent, probably about some Turk thing they'd done years ago. But when he turned round and grinned at her and yelled at her to hurry up, she couldn't help but smile and dash in after them.

***

Kalm had always been a beautiful little town. It was like nowhere else in the world, the only little town that still had that olden day feel to it. There was a reason it was called Kalm, and that was because there was such a calm atmosphere to it. You could go there and immediately feel refreshed. Everyone here was so friendly, everyone stopped to say hello. Here, you could rest for the night and feel safe in your bed.

She had always liked it here, had often stopped off here on her travels. She had known the owners of the tavern by name until they had been killed by Geo-Stigma all those years ago. Now there were new owners, she had never met them. She was alone now, sat in her old spot in the aging tavern, a tankard of ale in front of her. It was like the old days, when she had felt so young and naïve, and enjoyed sitting in here taking in the local atmosphere. Now she felt old, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She had no idea where any of the others were, and in that moment she didn't care either. She just wanted to be alone, to contemplate what it was she had actually gotten herself into. Sephiroth was constantly inside her head, whispering things, telling her to do things. And sometimes she wanted to. Sometimes she felt that doing what he said would make everything better.

Kill them all. Take your sword and kill everyone in this tavern. It will make you feel…alive

She shook the voice away, not caring what he said. She didn't want to listen to him anymore. It had been a constant, almost like an argument inside her head, for days now. Before, it had only been every so often and back then, sometimes she had listened. Kill it. That had often been a favourite when she had found herself fighting some extraordinary beast. The voice inside her head seemed to revel in the violence she could inflict with her sword. But of course it did, it was Sephiroth. He was evil. And she wanted to stop him.

You will never stop me. I will never be just a memory.

"You said the same thing to Cloud two years ago…" she muttered through clenched teeth.

From the bar, an elderly man looked up quizzically at the sound of her voice. She smiled at him and he turned back around. Maybe now wasn't the best time to have a conversation with the voices in her head. They would think her crazy and cart her off to an asylum. But maybe that was where she belonged? Maybe she was just crazy?

But Reno didn't seem to think so. He had stuck by her ever since meeting her just two days previously. And now he was off trying to find her something to eat. She smiled as she thought about him and knew that he was the one she would become closest too on this expedition.

The door to the tavern opened slowly, the cool night air rushing in before it was closed again and the whole gang trudged inside. Lizzy noticed that Yuffie was shivering with the cold and she smiled. She herself rarely felt the cold anymore, so when they saw her and made her way over she shook her own coat off and offered it to the girl.

"Take it…" she smiled

Yuffie raised an eyebrow, "You sure you won't get cold?"

Lizzy shrugged, "I rarely feel it…too used to being outside I guess. Seriously, take it."

The young girl smiled and muttered her thanks before taking it and putting the jacket on, "Wow, its so warm. Thanks!"

It seemed to break the ice somewhat and for that, Lizzy was grateful. Up until now she had felt unable to join in with any of their conversations, preferring to stay in the company of Vincent and Reno. Those two were loitering at the back of the group, still talking amongst themselves quietly. After a moment, Reno looked up and caught her eye. He smiled at her, a warm smile, a smile full of love and trust. She returned it before hastily bringing her tankard to her mouth and swalling a large mouthful of ale. It was too much, and she coughed, sending the liquid spilling from her mouth.

"You ok?" hands were immediately slapping her on the back as she leant over, coughing and gasping for breath. The liquid had somehow gone up her nose, which made her sneeze. Somewhere, she heard laughter and looked up, face bright red with embarrassment.

"What's so funny?"

Barrett looked at her, fighting his laugher, "That's the funniest thang I seen ALL day girl. You aint changed a bit since the old days, I tell ya!"

She frowned and muttered something about not liking him anymore and him not being her friend. It only made him roar with laugher all the more. She stood up, completely embarrassed and slunk her way over to the bar where she placed her now empty tankard on the bar and muttered for a refill.

"You ok kid?"

She looked up and saw Reno stood there. He was still smiling but in that moment it annoyed her, "What are you so happy about?"

"You don't like people laughing at you?"

She shook her head, "Never have done."

He raised an eyebrow, "Hate to say it Lizzy, but on a mission like this you kind of need to laugh at yourself…can't be serious all the time. We're lookin' for sephiroth after all and that's serious enough in itself…"

"Don't lecture me…" she felt herself getting angry now, "Don't you dare tell me what I need to do…"

He fell into silence and it wasn't often that Barrett was a silent man. After a moment he looked at her, "Sorry Lizzy…I know you've had a tough time…"

She glared at him, practically spitting her words at him, "You have no IDEA! No idea at all what it has been like for me…" she stood up abruptly, the chair legs screeching loudly on the flagstone floor, and she banged her fist on the table, "do NOT cross me! You have no IDEA what I am capable of!!"

Her eyes flashed and in an instant her face seemed to morph. No longer was she the beautiful young woman, but her face had turned pale, her hair flashed momentarily white. In her, they saw the man that could be called her brother. They saw a face that none of them ever wanted to see again. Each and every member of that group saw him then. They saw Sephiroth. And when she spoke, it was in his voice.

"I should kill you where you stand. I should make you suffer, make you dance like the insignificant puppets that you ARE!"

The face of Sephiroth turned to each and every one of them before stopping on Cloud. The face seemed to shift from being Sephiroth to Lizzy and back again in an instant. Cloud stepped forward then, his hand on his sword.

"Lizzy, I know you're in there. Fight that bastard damnit…fight him please!"

"She cannot get out Cloud…how good to see you again by the way. She cannot fight me, I am too strong. How do you think you came to be here after all?!"

Her body stepped forward, and suddenly the Masamune was in her hand, pointed at Cloud, "Don't you see Cloud? I control everything she does, everything she says…" her gaze flitted to Reno, "everything she feels…"

But then she seemed to stop and Sephiroth seemed to falter, and her face seemed to return if only for an instant. And all of a sudden it was her voice, "Reno…Reno please…"

But then that maniacal laughter, "I control her. She thinks she is in love with him…" she pointed at Reno, "But I am using it for my own ends…NO!" the voices shifted once more, "I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS TO ME!"

Reno stepped forward, his face clouded with pain and worry for her. He reached out to her, gently touched her face, "Come on Lizzy, fight him. You're in there somewhere…"

She looked at him then, the flickering between Sephiroth and herself becoming less and less frequent, "Reno?"

"I'm here sweetheart…keep on fighting…"

And then finally he was gone. She looked at him, gazed into his blue eyes before gently touching his hand, "Don't believe a word he says Reno…"

And then she was unconscious in his arms.

***

She hadn't come around for days and Reno did not move from her side. He was too scared to leave her, too scared that Sephiroth would overtake her again. What happened to her had frightened him something silly, and he worried for her safety. The things that had come out of her mouth had made him wonder about a lot of things.

She thinks she is in love with him, but I am using it to my own ends

His brow furrowed as he remembered those words, the way they were spat out in utter hatred. Did she really love him, or was that Sephiroth just making stuff up? He wasn't sure. But he hoped she came around soon. He just wanted to make sure she was alright.

They were all worried about her, all scared that this would happen again. She fought him off this time, but what about next time? What if she killed one of them? Most of them had stayed away from the room since she had passed out, all except himself and Vincent. Cloud had popped his head in a couple of times, just to see how she was. But she hadn't changed. She had been unconscious for days and none of them were sure when she would come around.

Her forehead was drenched in a cold sweat and she tossed and turn. It was as if she were stuck in the throws of a nightmare so horrific that she couldn't physically wake from it. He wondered what horrors Sephiroth was forcing her through.

He reached out and gently took her hand. She seemed to calm slightly at his touch, yet still she did not wake.

"Y'know Lizzy, back in the day I would never do this. I was a Turk, someone who went around killing people for Shin-Ra…any girl I was seen talking to would have been one of the er…'ladies of the night' I guess. I wasn't one for looking after damsels in distress…or…or God, falling for nice girls. Yet here I am, sat here looking after you. I'm not the same man I was when Meteor was about to kill us all. That changed me. And then I met you…and you changed me…what you said when Sephiroth was inside you…it made me wonder…I…jesus I can't believe I'm saying this to an unconscious girl who I only met a few days ago…"

He fell silent then, suddenly feeling stupid. Why was he telling this to someone who was deeply unconscious? It wasn't as if she could hear what he was saying. But, it made him feel better. Or he thought it did. Yet why couldn't he bring himself to tell her exactly how he felt for her? Was he really feeling the way he thought he was? Or was it just a simple crush. He didn't know, he'd never felt like this before. Everytime she caught his eye his stomach seemed to do a backflip, he found himself constantly trying to find ways of impressing her. And he worried when things went wrong. He had been terrified when he had seen her contort into Sephiroth, terrified for her life. And he wanted to save her. What was this feeling?

Behind him, he heard the door to the bedroom close softly and he spared a look over his shoulder. Tifa was stood there, a steaming cup of warm soup in her hands. She smiled at him and walked forward.

"I brought you some soup. You haven't eaten in what seems like days…"

He shrugged, "More important things to think about…"

She set the soup down on the bedside table and gazed at him. He could barely meet her eye. There had been a time when she had been the enemy, a time when he had admired her from afar and been in awe of her fighting abilities. Now she was stood in the same room as himself, and they were on equal terms.

"You really care about her don't you?"

He nodded, "Yeah…yeah I do. Look at her Tifa…she looks so peaceful there, but I hate to think what's going on inside her head…"

She sighed, "She came into our lives a few days ago asking for help…I didn't want to…I thought she was a fraud…now I know she's not. Reno…I can see how much you care about her, and I also see the way she looks at you…"

"But Sephiroth said…"

She shook her head, "He was twisting things, the same way he always did. She likes you Reno…why can't you just see that?" But she was smiling as she said it, rather than telling him off.

He nodded and returned the smile, "Thanks Tifa…listen, can you sit with her for a while? I need some time…"

She nodded, "Go on…"

He stood up, bent over and kissed Lizzy's forehead. She didn't move in response but it didn't matter, "There's a lot of stuff I gotta tell you someday kid…" he whispered quietly before grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and exiting the room.