***I am REALLY sorry to everyone who reads the 13th side. I just am totally inspired for this story, and totally uninspired for that. I sorry. I have a plan though! Anyways, please review and stuff! I love you all!***
Namine Pov
After Vexen's visit today Namine was cut up and bloody. But she realized the pain was coming back. Namine gasped and started sobbing, her memories held back by a small thread, but she felt power. Not the power of her memories or her world trying to consume me. The kind of power that she felt when Jenova and Areith spoke through her, but not as strong. She loved it.
She tried lifting the bed she was lying on.
It floated.
'Yes! My plan's working!' Namine smiled to herself.
Vexen was forgetting to inject her with the stuff that numbed her pain and took away her powers.
Namine sat up and tried to stand, but fell back onto the bed.
There was a huge pain between her legs.
'That medicine must have numbed me a lot…' Namine thought as she experimentally touched one of her cuts.
Her piercing scream would've woken her dead mom.
"Nami! Are you… somewhat okay?" Tifa asked searching for a good word. She knew that Namine wasn't okay.
"I'm great! My plan… it's working!" She tried to lift her arms in triumph, but they fell to her sides and she whimpered in pain.
Then the freakin' flashbacks came.
*Flash*
"Namine! We're going out on a mission! Have fun here! Zexy, Axel, and I will see you before you know it, just chill here with Demyx." Xion announced to twelve-year-old Namine. They would be in seventh grade if they weren't here.
"Can't wait to see you!" Namine hugged her best friend, then set up a soundproof barrier.
"If anything goes wrong just tell them that I brainwashed you all. I'll be killed anyways, and if they thought I brainwashed you none of you'll get hurt." Namine whispered to Xion.
"I can't do that. You're my best friend. I'll say that I convinced you to brainwash everyone." Xion amended. Namine knew she had no chance of changing Xion's mind.
"Whatever. So, plan A, right?" Namine asked to be sure.
"Yeah, plan B is basically run the fuck away." Xion nodded.
"And plan C?" Namine joked.
"We just went over that one. That's the 'Sacrifice Namine and Xion' plan." Xion whispered, deadly serious.
"Just… Be safe, okay? I can't wait to see the stars again." Namine sighed and shut down the soundproof barrier.
"You'll love them." Xion promised. Namine smiled weakly. Then she kissed Xion on the cheek.
"What was that for?" Xion asked, incredulous.
"For saving me. And my sister." Namine whispered. Xion touched her cheek.
"Don't let Axel catch you doing that. He has a major crush on me!" Xion teased. She hugged Namine and skipped away.
Namine hugged her sketchbook to her chest and went to her room. Over the past few weeks all of them had been condensing all their stuff into a shoebox each. They took their boxes with them on missions and such, hiding them in the deep pockets of their robes they were forced to wear. Namine only had a few things and she could wear them.
She put on her favorite dress, a locket from her mother, Areith's ribbon, and took her first sketchbook from Sephiroth.
She and Axel had burned the others, except for Loz's.
It was so small that Namine could hide it in her small pocket. Along with a few pencils.
Her little secret, no one had to know.
Then Namine contacted Xion and they confirmed that plan A was go.
Namine all the cameras in the building from the walls.
She made guards run into each other.
And she was in the big lab…
But Sephiroth was there.
"Little sister, don't tell me you did this?" He asked pointing to the cameras littering the floor.
"Sephiroth, come with me! These people killed your mother and hid your brothers! Come with me to be safe!" Namine exclaimed to her brother in obvious disregard for the plan. Xion groaned in Namine's mind.
"Sister, we are loyal! We can't turn our backs on our family!" Sephiroth exclaimed.
"Sephiroth, I'm begging you. I need my brother to protect me." Namine said weakly, playing the brother card. Sephiroth's face softened.
" 'Wishing for tomorrow... my soul shatters. My pride is broke. My wing is broken. I am no longer able to fly...' " Sephiroth quoted to me.
"Loveless? I thought you stopped reading that after Genesis…" Namine trailed off, referring to Sephiroth's friend who died in experimentation.
"I can't go. It's an honor thing. Angeal and Genesis. Who do I listen to?" Sephiroth muttered to himself. Namine was frozen in place.
"Go. I can't. If you ever need me… You know how to call me." Sephiroth whispered to Namine. He looked down. Namine nodded and ran.
She paused as she passed him. She held his sketchbook tight to her body, and then looked down at it.
When Sephiroth looked up again Namine was gone. But where she had stood was a torn out page.
A detailed drawing of Sephiroth and the people he loved. His mother and brothers. Angeal and Genesis. Namine and Cloud. Zack. Zack had been a volunteer for this. Then Sephiroth had to train him. Then Zack figured out that the Organization was evil, so…
Namine had drawn this a long time ago, there was a boy in the background with silver hair, but Namine had no idea who he was. He just appeared in Sephiroth's mind every once in a while.
She watched as Sephiroth picked it up and stared at it.
He fell to his knees and clutched it to his chest.
'Hmm… I thought he'd take it better than that.' Namine thought to herself as she ran.
She made it outside without much difficulty. Only when she went through the place where she used to be in the crates did a memory threaten to take over.
She saw the horrible Mako and Jenova experiments gone wrong.
It broke her heart.
All those innocent kids… dying for no reason…
Namine shook her head and hurried on, sending out happy thoughts to every child she passed.
Soon she was outside. She saw the sky for the first time in years. It was night, the stars burned her eyes.
But she stared at them. They were like dots, not the little "star" shape on her locket.
She turned her gaze from the sky and hurried towards the tower, that was where they had promised to meet.
She saw her friends and a bubbly laugh escaped her mouth. Xion looked at her in wonder.
"What happened to my 'Oh so serious' best friend?" Xion asked, hugging Namine when she approached.
"I haven't seen the sky in forever. I missed it. But it burns my eyes. And Sephiroth was…crying. And this was so easy!" Namine giggled.
"Not for us. We had to dig the trackers out of our arms. Let's go. We have to leave on the purple train tomorrow." Xion explained and dragged Namine inside the tower. They were camping out with the bells tonight.
That morning Namine saw the sunrise.
And after that they bounced around foster homes until now.
*Flash*
Namine sighed as she surfaced from her memories. At least now there would be no new flashbacks, unless they were of the countless days listening to creatures that had once been human begging to die, or some of the short days with Lulu and Kairi. Or of listening to the scientists sick thoughts. Namine needed help, once her plan was put into action she needed a man on the outside. Someone stronger than anyone.
And the flashback had reminded Namine of the important fact that she had Sephiroth on her side.
Awesome.
Namine let a small smile take over her mouth as she concentrated on her 'brother'.
'Sephiroth?' She asked the air.
'Namine?' his voice was clear in her mind with disbelief.
'I need you to save me. Come here in a week. Tifa and I are gonna die, please come.' Namine begged.
'I will, little sis. The scientists are doing some wonderful work! They're getting us even more brothers and sisters!' Sephiroth exclaimed while Namine shivered.
'Thanks. I'm sorry I haven't… called.' Namine mumbled to him.
'It's okay, just check in once in a while. I know I can convince you to come back.' Sephiroth said in her mind. She was the only one he showed his optimistic side to. Namine gulped guiltily.
'Thanks Seph. Bye.' She hugged him in her mind and he grumbled.
'How many times have I told you not to call me Seph?' and disconnected.
"Namine?" Tifa asked at the smile on her face.
"Now, we wait." Namine sighed and picked up her sketchbook.
Cloud Pov
Cloud looked around the parking lot of the school that Namine had directed him to.
Suddenly he saw the boy Namine had showed him, along with the other boy and girl that Namine had mentioned.
Bingo!
"Hey!" he called, running up to the boy and his friends.
"Yeah?" The boy asked, turning to him.
Riku, he looked a lot like Sephiroth.
"My friend told me to find you. She's Namine. Kairi, she told you, right?" Cloud asked the red-haired girl.
"Yeah. She called. I was just asking Sora and Riku if they wanted to come with me, since she's so sick that they'll never get a chance to see her again." Kairi's eyes watered with fake tears. Wow, she was quite the little actress.
"It's horrible that we just found you now. Maybe if we found you just a little sooner Namine would've been able to get better. As soon as she heard you were still alive she put all her thought into finding you. I tried to help her, but someone had to keep food on the table and pay for her meds. She got cancer. Stage four. Kairi, you have to see her soon." Cloud lied, making up shit as he went.
"Oh my God, I didn't even know it got that bad. When she called she didn't say… I thought she was exaggerating." Kairi gasped. She grabbed Cloud's hand.
"So, what's up Cloud? How is that girl?" Kairi asked, Cloud wondered if Namine told her anything.
"You knew Tifa, right? My best friend?" Cloud asked. Kairi nodded.
"She's taking care of Namine right now. Namine must have told you about Areith. She died after we dated for a while." Cloud told her.
"Oh my gosh, last time I saw you guys you were so much younger. Not that I noticed. You always seemed so much older." Kairi got a faraway look that added a nice touch.
"So, are your little friends going to come? We have to leave soon. I'm not sure how long Namine's gonna last. The doctors let her come home, but only because they know she's only going to be a waste of medicine at the hospital." Cloud looked at the ground, letting a couple tears pool in his eyes.
"Kai… You said you had a sister, but never a brother." The brown haired boy said, looking at Cloud.
"You didn't talk about me? Or wait… was it because mom told you never to tell anyone I lived through the crash so dad wouldn't get me and Nami?" Cloud asked, making up the random-est crap he could think of.
"Yeah. Dad knew we split up, but after the accident with you and Nami… he thought you were both dead. I thought you were dead for a while. Mom promised we'd get to see each other in two days, remember? She kinda got that wrong…" Kairi trailed off, grabbing Cloud's spun lies.
"What was up with your dad?" Riku asked.
"I'll tell you guys in the car, we have to get moving. I thought you said you had another friend, Kai?" Cloud asked referring to the blonde boy that wasn't there.
"I'll just tell him to tell mom that I'm sleeping over at Riku's. He'll just hang out with some of his friends." Sora said happily, pulling out his phone. Kairi shot me a questioning glance, and Cloud shrugged. The blonde wasn't important. Namine didn't even know his name or his face, just his hair. The scientists wouldn't be after him.
"Sure. Tell him to pack you an overnight bag." Kairi suggested. Sora nodded and texted his brother.
"Can we swing by our houses before we go?" Kairi asked Cloud. He nodded.
'Look, I'm not real good with the whole mind talking thing, but I need to know… Are we really gonna see Namine?' Kairi asked.
'Sorry Kai… no. We can't, I don't even know where she is, she just burst into my mind last night begging me to come and save you guys. She was kidnapped and taken by a very bad man. Along with my fiancé Tifa. They're the only two people I care about more than everything and now… It's like the universe wants to screw me over.' Cloud thought bitterly to Kairi. He didn't know why, but he felt himself opening up to her. Maybe because she's related to Namine.
'Wait! That's it! Maybe they took them because of you! Would anyone want to get to you for any reason?' Kairi burst out.
'No… Wait. There are some people… Tell that to Namine when she calls you. Now break the connection, we don't know if the scientists can track it.' Cloud ordered.
'Okay. Over and out.' Kairi said seriously in Cloud's head. They stopped at Sora's house and a guy with blonde hair walked out with a backpack.
"Later Sora. Where are you going anyways?" The blonde asked.
"We're gonna see Kairi's sister. She's really sick." Sora answered.
"Oh. Hope she gets better Kairi. Who's he?" The boy asked pointing to Cloud.
"I'm Cloud. I'm Kairi and Namine's older brother." Cloud said, extending his hand to the other blonde.
"I'm Roxas. Well, I gotta go inside. I have a thirty page paper due by Monday." He groaned and walked inside.
"That was my dorky little brother." Sora commented as they drove to Riku's house.
"Phs, he's only like a few seconds younger than you. Plus he acts way older than you, Sora." Riku laughed at his friend as he climbed out of his car to get his backpack.
'Shit, how do parents do this? I have no idea what to say to them!' Cloud thought to himself.
They talked for a few hours on the road. Then They decided to include Cloud.
"Hey Cloud, what do you do for work?" Sora asked Cloud interestedly.
"Well, I used to work as a fighting teacher. I taught sword-fighting and some martial arts to kids, but now I work as a medical assistant. It gets me discounts for Namine's bills." Cloud responded, lying about the doctor thing. He didn't lie about the fighting.
"Oh cool! Can we spar?" Sora asked excitedly.
"Sure. I gotta call someone for a sec." Cloud answered cheerily. Now for Namine's death.
Cloud pulled into a gas station.
He climbed out of the car and called Barret. They had gone over this before.
"Yo, what's up with Nami?" Cloud asked happily.
"Uh… Cloud? Remember you still have Marlene and Denzel." Barret reminded him in a tone of avoidance.
"Yeah, how are they too? I need to see them soon. Do you need me to baby-sit them again?" Cloud asked.
"No. Uh… how far away are you?" Barret asked, avoiding the first question yet again.
"Pretty far. Namine just found where Kairi was so I went to pick her up. We'll be at my house in a few hours though." Cloud answered while the teens got out to stretch.
"Umm…. You should hurry. Namine's not gonna last long, she's asking for you and Kairi." Barret burst out.
"What?" Cloud asked.
"Tifa's there, but Namine can't even see her. She's just asking for you and Kairi." Barret admitted.
'Damn, where did we learn how to act this well?' Cloud asked himself.
"… She's still alive, right?" Cloud asked after a long silence. Kairi stopped mid-stretch.
"Yeah, but… Hurry, okay?" Barret warned as he hung up. Cloud just stood there with the phone pressed to his ear. After a few minutes of feeling the teens' eyes on him he slid it back down into his pocket.
"Namine… We gotta get there fast." Cloud said quietly.
"Is she okay?" Kairi asked, truly worried.
"No. But she's alive." Cloud answered.
"Guys, we gotta get going." Kairi ordered her friends.
Just then the scientists came. They grabbed Sora and Riku before anyone could react.
"Shit!" Cloud yelled, running to his car, but it was no use. They had the fastest cars.
"What the hell?" Kairi asked Cloud, staring after the cars.
"That would be why Namine wanted me to save you. Good acting, by the way. But it was useless. We gotta get them back. Namine NEEDS me to get them back. Or we might not see her again." Cloud mumbled the last thing to himself, knowing that Namine thought this was all her fault.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked, Cloud looked doubtfully at her.
"I wish I could tell you, but Namine wants to tell you everything I know, and I don't know half of what's happening." Cloud responded, driving well over the speed limit with a tiny speck of the car in the distance.
"Aww… I really fucked it up. I promised Namine this was easy." Cloud groaned as the car slipped out of his sight.
"We can still fix this. God, I hope Sora and Riku are okay." Kairi whispered as they devised a plan, still driving as fast as they could towards where they last saw the car.
Riku Pov
Riku felt someone grab him from behind as he listened to Kairi tell him to get in the car. Riku saw Sora grabbed from behind too, and they were both thrust into a car. They summoned their blades, but someone bound their wrists and put a light over them that made the keys disappear.
"What the hell?" Riku spat out, looking at the cloaked figure.
"You like the lights? They are a weakness, a keyblade master's kryptonite." The man said with a smile in his voice. His accent was faintly British.
"Why are we tied up?" Sora asked next to him. Riku looked at his best friend with a warning glance as he recognized the robes.
"We are the Organization, Riku seems to remember it. Roxas would too." The man smirked. He's right. It's the reason they have the keyblades, the reason that Kairi's sister probably had such a hard time finding them.
When they were all Sora and Roxas were six and Riku was seven they found a girl wandering around their town, mumbling about Nami and mama. They took her to their foster home; they all lived in it for the time, and begged the woman to let her stay. She let Kairi stay and they never really questioned her. Until Roxas was kidnapped.
He was really good at fighting; he was even able to fight with two swords. So the Organization kidnapped him along with Sora. And Sora never went anywhere without Riku, so they ended up kidnapping him too. And since Kairi was unlucky enough to be with them that day, she was taken too.
They separated Roxas and Sora, giving Roxas one of those god-forsaken robes and telling him he had to fight and capture people.
That lasted for only about a year until they devised a plan out.
Riku and Sora had been trained to fight, but kept in cages.
Kairi had been taken to god-knows-where. She never told them.
It was horrible, but Roxas got them out of there.
He left his friends behind just to get them out.
Riku snapped out of his thoughts and returned to the matter at hand.
"Who the fuck are you?" He snapped at the hooded figure.
"Why Riku, I'm surprised you didn't remember." The figure laughed, revealing her face. Two hair antennas bobbed out of her black hood.
Riku gasped. It was Larxene.