Sorry for not updating as much, but I'm getting there. I know I owe a lot more length into each chapter and I'll be working on that as well. Once again: Thank you for your reviews and the incredible hits.

Chapter 9

Mirror Image

Ashes sat in bed, staring at the opposite wall and pondered about everything that had happened in the past three weeks. Her father was still in the hospital comatose and her mother had recently left on Reeves case to inspect something at the ruins.

'Great now watch; something will happen to mother.' She growled and looked at her digital clock which glared back at her, stating that it was past noon on the chilly on coming winter Saturday morning. She grabbed her TV remote and flipped it on, the black screen coming to life in vibrant colors. The sounds of her sisters fighting in the bathroom upstairs reached her ears, but her mind lazily ignored it while she stared absently at the channels she flipped through. Soon she stopped on a news channel that flashed: Urgent News Live; the mans voice penetrating her silence as she listened onward.

"We are coming to you live from Ice city where an extinct volcano had begun erupting early this morning. The city is on major lockdown, and all U.N.S. are at the site preventing the rivers of lava from reaching the city walls. Ladies and gentleman, this is history in the making." he stated.

"That's right John. Several scientists say that they are confused as to why an extinct crater had become active overnight and are concluding that the planet's tectonic plates have shifted, once again igniting the crater..."

Ashes groaned and changed the channel, knowing that what was happening halfway around the world would have no effect on her. Her mind was solely dedicated to the image of her father laying helplessly in that white room, on that white bed. The very image made her churn with disgust.

Carelessly she ran her fingers through her oily hair and decided it was time to take a shower. She ignored the cold floor as she padded her way over to the door in her extra large t-shirt and panties and as she opened the door she saw Sam zoom past her, an enraged Desiree at her heels screaming.

"Give me that back you little twerp! Those are my shoes!"

Ashes just stood there lost and blank as she watched them run down the stairs, her minding knowing fully well that one of them was going to hurt during thier little chase. Marlene shouted downstairs at the girls to stop thier nonsense and began to lecture them on thier behavior. Lately no one spoke to her anymore, not that she cared. Sam would glance at her in worry but she didn't really care for speech at any time. Her thoughts were her only comfort. She saw the bathroom door open and she headed for it, closing the white door behind her.

Sighing, she began her ritual of getting clean; she set her shampoo at the foot of the tub and pulled the shower curtains out all the way as she turned the faucet on and pulled the little lever allowing the shower head to come to life. As she sat there waiting for the bathroom to heat up, she ran her brush through her tangled heaps of silver hair.

"Why do I have to have such tangled up hair..." she grumbled to her self as she got the last of her hair free. Staring at the silver tendrils she wondered why she never dyed her hair color. It would have helped her fit in better... Sighing yet again, she flipped her hair back and got into the shower and jumped out fifteen minutes later all clean. Throughout the shower she had decided on heading over to a hair salon to get her hair dyed even if it wouldn't last anymore then a few weeks.

After she got dressed, she walked past her brothers room, her keen sense of hearing still concluding that he was sleeping in like always. She walked downstairs and found the Mitsubishi keys and grabbed them, silently heading out the door. She got into the smooth black leather seat and turned the car on, her left foot on the clutch and first gear ready. Not wanting to pick up her brother's shouts, she drove out of the garage and down Maple Lane onto the highway.

She merged left and made her way down the interstate, gears switching smoothly, the transmission never failing a beat. Soon she saw the exit to Wall Market Square and she cut off a truck in order to make the exit.

Wall Market Square was quite a popular shopping distract in Mikotex and also known for thier theatrical shows, exotic foods, and car dealerships which was where Cloud had gotten Daemon his car from. Oh she knew Daemon would probably kill her for taking his car without permission like always, but she didn't care anymore. Everything seemed so out of place; SHE seemed out of place. All these people walking down the streets, laughing, chattering, yelling, talking, seemed so at home yet she felt so alien.

She pulled into a public parking building of the Midfield Mall and parked perfectly in the first open spot. The chill air swept past her as she got out, her hair beneath the black jacket she wore and she winced as loud voices from the streets below mingled with sounds of vehicles and horns met her sensitive ears. The Highwind aircraft engines grumbled loudly up within the skies, transporting masses of people to thier desired destinations.

The electric sliding doors that led into the mall opened with a small ring. She snapped her attention toward them, omitting the high school teenagers swarm past her, a careless few staring at her in wonder. If Ashes thought the people from outside hurt her ears, the mall was much worse. Bodies were in every aisle and people swarming into one clothing store and into another. Then the unpleasant distinct aroma from the food court made her nose wish it lost its sense of smell.

'How can these people eat that junk food?' she wondered as she slid down the escalator to the bottom floor.

Right around the corner, there was one store called Edwards Fine Salon and she briskly made her way inside, the glass doors slightly muffling the noise from outside. She was met with some soft rock playing from the speakers located behind the desk and she looked up to find an older man working the counter. His black hair streaked gray was gelled all over the place yet looked stylish and suddenly his violet mako enhanced eyes glanced up at her. He cocked his head to one side before speaking up,

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to know the price ranges on dying ones hair to another color."

"That depends on the length Miss; If you'd like you can come have a seat over here and I will be with you shortly."

Ashes nodded and made her way past a few of the store's clients already being attended to by some stylists and sat in a black comfortable chair. The mirror before her reflected everything and her idle thoughts returned...

"Miss, my name is Edward and I own this fine establishment. You'll be glad to know that I will be your stylist today. Now let's see how long your hair is." he asked. Ashes nodded and took off her jacket as her silver hair cascaded down her back to her buttocks. Edward merely narrowed his violet eyes and continued to look at the length,

"It should cost about 178 gil; What color have you thought about?"

"Any shade of brown." she replied. He nodded and ran his fingers through her soft silver hair and brought out his scissors.

"No, I don't need a trim or anything. Just a new color." she said sharply. He nodded and brought out a set of color pamphlets for her to look at. Several seconds later, her eyes caught a dark mahogany brown and she pointed out to that one. Edward talked while he worked, applying the ammonia smelling chemical to her silver strands;

"I've seen hair like your before when I was young and any good hair stylist knows natural hair color when they see it."

"You were a SOLDIER once." she said as a matter of fact. Edward froze and smiled slightly,

"Yes I was, how did you know?"

"Your eyes and the way your hands work fast...you were exceptionally skilled in knives, were you not?" Edward chuckled nodding,

"Excellent eyes you have there miss and yes, you are correct. I left after the whole meteor incident and started this business in Junon at first and then moved it five years ago to this grand city." he quieted down and covered the last strand in the dark hair dye,

"I seen hair like this only once in my life. He was a general back then and still a legend even if he murdered so many people."

Ashes knew who this man was speaking of. It was none other then the Great Sephiroth who brought down meteor upon the earth, the man whom her father had defeated. She smiled proudly.

"Are you smiling because this man is related to you?" he quietly asked.

"My father is Cloud Strife Sir, not that mad man." she quipped hating the fact that this man thought she was related to the planet's worst psycho.

"Cloud Strife you say? Hmm. heard what happened on the news Miss and I am truly sorry and I apologize for my earlier statement. It's just that you look like that man...no offense."

Ashes closed her eyes as he finished wrapping her hair in a tin foil and sat there quietly, her thoughts rising once again brushing away the offense.

Aeris greeted Reeve at the excavation site and found Nanaki already there looking over some charts. The red lion looked up at her and gave her a toothy grin,

"Aerith, my friend: How have the years been to you?" he asked gently as he got up on all fours to greet her. Aerith's green eyes sparkled in merriment as she embraced the beast,

"I have four wonderful daughters and a son and they are growing up so fast... too fast for my liking." she laughed. The lion chuckled and Reeve cut in,

"How is Cloud?" Aerith frowned,

"He's still in a comatose state. No change but at least he's still breathing."

Reeve nodded and stood up and hugged the cetra,

"I am truly sorry Aeris, I never wanted to bring any harm to him."

"No, he knew the consequences and so did I." she quietly stated as she went over to the make-shift desk.

"What is it that you wanted me to see?" she quickly changed the subject.

"Right, well one of our men and scientists have found a stone passage leading several hundred feet underground into a deep cavern. We've found ancient calligraphy upon the rock and even our leading linguist can't crack the script. It's nothing that they have ever come across and it doesn't derive from an old language. I was hoping you could take a look at it." Reeve explained, his tan shirt covered in dirt and his jeans filthy from the ground sands.

"I guess we better get started." Aerith sighed.

The stone doors grated heavily upon the ground as green emerald eyes watched warily. Nanaki was beside her along with a blonde woman in a white lab coat. Those lab coats always annoyed Aerith and rubbed her the wrong way; old memories of her younger years spent in Hojo's cell...

She shivered, not just from the memory but from the cold dank breeze that wafted straight at them. Soldiers surrounded them as they began thier descent down and the muffled voices of people already far below began to clear with each step they climbed down.

It seemed like several hours had passed till they emerged into a large, widely lit cavern with soldiers trafficking back and forth. The images on the cavern rock, which were lighted by intense halogens, reflected thier once glorious colors back at her. Drawings of beings with wings; Scripture older then her own Cetra tongue; pictures of the planet's history all stared at her and she gasped in wonderment. The warmth of the planet swarmed thickly around her as she walked up to the wall, her hands pressed against the cool wet surface.

This was much older...this was a historical document...

She backed away, her eyes taking everything in: It depicted the Fall of Jenova before it ever happened! It showed beings with wings...they looked like Sephiroth...angels. The planet hummed within her mind, voices leaving fragments: First race...dawn of the planet...before the Cetra...

Another image depicted of a woman vaguely faded but the red eyes were bold. The woman held the planet in one hand and a red planet in another... the next image beheld a battle between two men...Aerith swore it was Cloud and the madman, Sephiroth; the next image showed angels crying red tears and within the circle of angels was a drawing of a child wrapped in gray, eyes crimson glaring back at her. The scripture was in a faded brilliant hue of blues and she looked at the lines, trying to figure out it's meaning. Other images showed what was clearly known as the Cetra, the green coloring indicating thier existence.

"Well my dear friend, what have you concluded from all this?" The red lion inquired as he too stared at the cavern walls.

"History, dear Nanaki...History." she whispered back.

"Done!" The man stated as he turned Ashes towards the mirror to inspect his art. Her silver hair was coated in dark mahogany and her eyes seemed to blend well along with the color.

"Thank you." she said.

"No problem Miss Strife." Edward relied with a smile. He walked over to the desk and took the payment Ashes handed to him. He looked up to give the girl her receipt, but she was already gone out the door.

Ashes stared at the tiled floor as she made her way past stores, stealing glances at the glass doors that reflected her new look. She froze suddenly as she saw a woman stare back at her, but it wasn't her. What should have been her image, was replaced by another familiar face. The eyes brilliant wine depths bright and eager staring at her like she had found the jewel of the century. The copy looked at her and mouthed,

"I Found You."

Okay...another cliffhanger...don't kill me please but please stay tuned to the next few chapters. They will have you screaming and squealing in your seats. I promise. I swear you all will think, "OH MY GOD." )