Penance

©®™ Lt. Commander Richie

((Disclaimer: NOT MINE! If you haven't figured out Mira's paternal heritage by now, you have serious issues with mental capacity. But that's just me. I'm writing it, after all. I know all the answers.))

Chapter 7


"Alright, gang, I've got the Shera parked down in that real big open area in the Slums. First thing tomorrow, we're all heading to Nibelheim!" Cid yelled that night, raising his glass with one hand and keeping his cigarette anchored firmly between his teeth while talking. There were choruses of agreement from many of the assembled. Vincent sat in the corner, in his human hand rested a glass of water; his golden claw was occupied by the inquisitive fingers of Mira.

"Do you have a hand in here?" Mira asked, turning the claw over to look at the black glove underneath. She turned and put her hand on top of it, her fingers splayed wide to match Vincent's. Her tiny and thin hands were hardly even the size of the scarlet-clad man's palm.

"Yes. I can feel your hand on top of mine." Vincent nodded, relinquishing motor control of the arm to the six-year-old. Mira took the claw and flexed each finger, putting her own fingers in between the jointed slats on the gold claw's fingers. With the edge of the red cloak she loved so much, the blue-eyed girl rubbed at a smudge on the upper side of Vincent's hand. In slight curiosity, the gunslinger looked down. Mira was humming a song, but her eyes were drooping. It was getting close to nine at night, much farther past the six-year-old's bedtime than anyone would care to admit. But still she continued to hum, finally relinquishing the arm so as to pull part of the frayed, battered and shot-through cloak she loved so much around herself like a blanket.

"Mr. Vins'nt, I'm sleepy." The petite girl said, punctuating this statement with a yawn. Vincent nodded, sinking down set his glass on the floor and to pick her up. He rose to his feet, Mira held in one arm, and quietly exited the room. While everyone laughed about something, the scarlet-clad man quietly mounted the stairs to the second floor and turned down the hall to Mira's borrowed room. Looking down and over his collar, Vincent watched as the girl drifted into slumber. Unconsciously, she had wrapped one tiny fist around a buckle on the front of his cloak. Opening the bedroom door with one hand, he pulled off his cloak and silently wrapped the six-year-old in it. He then laid her softly on the nearest bed, next to her small toy motorcycle. With a whimper, Mira searched blindly in her sleep for the warmth that had left.

"Is she alright?" A voice asked from the door. It was Yuffie, Vincent hadn't even heard her behind him. He had been focused on the tiny girl in his arms. He silently nodded, watching wordlessly as the Kunoichi took a single stuffed animal from the shelves surrounding them and placing it in the arms of the little girl.

"She's fine, Yuffie." Vincent nodded slightly, his arms crossed as he watched Mira sleep. The ninja nodded, and then turned to Vincent.

"Are you okay?" The question caught him off guard, and the gunman turned to the smaller woman. His eyes softened a bit, heavily lidded as the two made eye contact, but neither said anything. They both stood there, staring, until Mira whimpered in her sleep. Yuffie sunk to the balls of her feet next to the girl, and gently placed a gloved hand on her cheek. The action seemed to calm the six-year old, who appeared to be having a nightmare. The two stood in silence a little while longer, content to watch Mira sleep.

"I was gifted with a unique strength from Mother. The strength to fight against this planet... Who torments Human beings."

Mira was scared. She clung to Kyra's hand in the dim light of The Forgotten Capitol, looking up at her blond friend with dimly-lit blue Mako eyes. Kyra looked down, she was ten after all and much taller than Mira; she smiled warmly. Then she hissed slightly in pain, holding her free hand to her Geostigma Syndrome-infected cheek.

"To tell you the truth, every one of you has this strength."

"Kyra, I'm scared." Mira whispered. Her large blue eyes closed, not wanting to see any more of the crystal trees or the shell-like house in front of the group of children.

"We'll be alright. They'll cure us." Kyra said reassuringly, still holding her hand to her cheek.

"That's right. We're all siblings."

"No, we're not. Mumma never gave me a little brother or sister." Mira whispered; she fingered her long and lanky hair, devoid of burnt ends or broken locks nervously.

"We're the chosen siblings who have inherited Mother's genetic thoughts that were dissolved into the Lifestream."

"You have me, don't you?" Kyra asked, crouching down in front of Mira. "You'll be fine. I may not like these guys, but they'll cure us and we won't have to hurt anymore." The older blond placed a sisterly hand on the six-year-old's cheek, eyes full of kindness.

"But! The planet is interfering with us all. It's trying to stop our growth. That's why your body is in pain, and your heart feels like it's about to be crushed."

"The planet wouldn't do that. Mumma said the planet saved us from Meteor!" Mira said, tugging at the sleeves of Kyra's dress. The little girl was frantic, her large eyes blinking and sending tears rolling down her face. "Why is the planet doing this?"

"I don't know." Kyra said quietly, getting back up to her feet.

"I will cure that. And then let's go to where our Mother is at!" Mira cried out in fear as the person claiming to cure them began to glow with a blue and clear flame. "Let's combine our strength as a family, and take revenge against this planet!"

"No!" Mira shouted, but nobody listened. "The planet keeps us alive! I don't want to hurt it!" Again she was ignored, but the speaker looked briefly in her direction before stepping forward.

"Follow after me." He said, and stepped into the river dividing the two parties. All around him, the clear water blossomed with inky blackness, viscous bubbles coming to the surface. With a smirk, he pulled his hands from the water, the black paint-like substance cupped in them. Then he drank deeply, throwing his arms wide as he finished. As though it was a catalyst, the children around Mira began to step into the water. Kyra stepped forward, and Mira followed dutifully behind. The boys in front had already begun to drink, taking long draughts of the inky black water. Almost hesitantly, Kyra dipped her hands into the water in front of her sodden blue dress, and came up with a handful of inky black water.

"C'mon, Mira. Don't you want to be cured? You've got Geostigma Syndrome sobad!" Kyra said, holding out the handful of water to the six-year-old. Mira hesitantly placed one bare foot in the water, then another, taking small steps over the smooth gravel at the bottom. Kyra placed her hands to her lips and drank deeply, closing her eyes. Mira dipped two small hands into the water as well, placing them to her lips and drinking the black water. She felt no different, her body still hurt and her chest still seared like she was being hugged much too tightly.

"I'm not cured." She said dejectedly, hanging her head and sitting down in the water. But she was the only one in the group that did. Everyone still stood in the river, staring straight ahead. Sodden, Mira pulled herself to her feet and walked closer to Kyra. The water was around her waist now, suffocatingly black and bubbling. Quietly, she looked up at Kyra's face. She still had a large and blotchy black area on her cheek, but instead of light brown eyes her best friend had greenish blue eyes, with pupils slitted like a cat's. With a scream, the six-year-old fell backwards into the inky water, bumping against someone before gaining her footing once more and running to the bank. But someone was already there waiting for her, the largest of the three brothers that had brought the children to The Forgotten Capitol.

"Why did you not drink, little sister?" Came a voice behind her. The other two with the silver hair had threaded their ways through the children standing on the riverbed.

"I did! But you didn't cure me! You didn't cure anyone!" Mira sobbed, her black hair sticking to her face in places as she yelled. Her blue Mako eyes glowed brighter than they had before, anger and grief shining in them. "The planet isn't hurting us because it wants to! I won't fight it!"

"But you are our sister, do you not want to go back to our Mother so that we may cure you?" The one that had given the speech was in front of her, looking down. Mira looked up at him with defiance flashing in her eyes.

"I had a Mumma! Her name was Ariana! I don' have any brothers or sisters!" Mira yelled, her voice becoming hoarse.

"I know why she is not affected." The shortest, hanging away from the group, said. "She was already our sister, from birth. The Geostigma Syndrome did not make her eyes like that."

"I'm not your sister!" Mira yelled, and with a surprising burst of speed for a six-year-old with no shoes she took off into the bushes of the forest surrounding The Forgotten Capitol.

"After her!" One of them yelled, and she could hear gunshots. Something singed her scalp, probably a bullet, and burnt off a hunk of hair. More hair was caught on a low branch of one of the forest's crystal trees, ripping and leaving yet another shortened chunk. Another shot flew past her head, the one brother with the long hair was gaining on her. More of Mira's long black hair was burnt and left on the ground. With a scream that sounded more like the call of a wounded animal, the six-year-old girl jumped into a low bush, a thorny branch scratching her forehead deeply barely registering on her mind.

But the bush was already occupied. A huge gray and black wolf was curled up on a patch of soft grass underneath the bush, and Mira nearly screamed again before the wolf's eyes shot open and it darted forward. It opened its gaping jaws, showing rows of razor-sharp and pearly white fangs. But the wolf didn't attack to kill. Instead, it took Mira gently by the neck and placed her on the soft grass, curling up around her like a protective barrier.

It was not a moment too soon, either; the long-haired brother thrust two hands into the bushes the girl was hiding in with the large animal and pulled the protection apart. The wolf growled threateningly, and Mira whimpered in fear. The brother stumbled backwards and let the bushes go.

"Wolves! If the girl came through here, brothers, she would have been eaten by now." He said, drawing his gun and aiming it at the bushes. The brother that gave the speech put his hand on the barrel, forcing it to point at the ground.

"You're too trigger-happy, brother. The wolf did nothing to you. Our mission is not to kill stupid animals, it is to find Mother and have our glorious Reunion!"

"Our older brother is approaching." The largest said, pointing to a spot of light a ways up the road. The other two nodded and sheathed weapons, sprinting for the road and their meeting with their older brother. In the bushes, Mira pulled her head up to look at the wolf that had saved her.

"Thank you." She whispered, and the wolf nodded its head. In a simple movement, the hulking gray and black animal moved its head forward and began licking the blood from the six-year-old's forehead. She giggled quietly, and when it was done she reached forward and began scratching the wolf behind the ears. It gave her a look with piercing and bright blue eyes, and she began to giggle again. Mira reached forward with both arms extended, this time, and hugged the animal around the neck. It nodded once more, and returned the embrace with its front paws. Then the wolf began to growl in an almost soothing tone, as though it was humming. The melody slowly lulled the six-year-old into a sleepy stupor, and she pulled herself away from the wolf's downy neck fur to snuggle against its stomach.

"Thank you." Mira said once again, before yawning and falling into a deep and exhausted sleep.


Mira awoke with a start, flailing as she found Vincent's cloak wrapped around her. She screamed as she rolled from the side of the bed, the stuffed animal still in her grip cushioning her fall. Outside it was nearing seven in the morning, and the sound of cars was rousing everyone from slumber. Tifa was first into the room, followed by Nanaki and then Vincent.

"Are you alright?" Tifa asked, sinking down next to the girl and pulling the cloak off of her to let her move. Mira nodded mutely, rubbing absentmindedly at the scar on her forehead. Even if it had been a dream, she could still feel the wolf's rough tongue on her forehead like she had only just escaped the brothers.

"Could you scream a little louder?" Someone yelled from down the hall. "I don't think my dad heard you in the Da Chao in Wutai!" Yuffie pounded on the dividing wall between the guest room and the kids room with what sounded like one of her boots. Mira began to tear up, hugging the stuffed animal she had been given the night before to keep from crying.

"I woked everyone up!" She wailed, but Tifa shushed her. Nanaki turned tail and moved from the room, keeping his flaming tail away from the door frame.

"No you didn't." Tifa assured. She gave Vincent a look over her shoulder, and he nodded mutely.

"I was already awake."

"See? You're alright. Now here," Tifa paused to get up and open the closet next to her, pulling out a small bag. "Fill this with your clothes, we're getting on the Shera and going to Nibelheim once Cid wakes up!"

Mira nodded, standing on bare feet and pulling Vincent's cloak up off the floor. She began dutifully folding it, not stopping until it was a square. She gave a small yawn, and then crossed the cold hardwood floor to present it to Vincent. The gunslinger looked as though he was going to fall asleep on his feet, but snapped to attention almost invisibly and Mira opened his golden clawed hand and placed the cloak in it.

"Thank you." She nodded, bowing deeply before running to the open closet to pack her things.

... Some minor things changed.