Three days had passed without the woman being found. Every security camera in the city had been searched by a veritable army of intelligence personnel. Even the Turks had turned up nothing. She had obviously left the city.

The fourth day, Sephiroth headed for his office as usual, coffee and danish from his favorite café in hand. He had brought enough danish to last until lunch. It was his intent to prevent any encounters with others from taking a turn for the worse due to his ill-temper. Most of the staff had already learned to stay out of his way, but there was always a chance one would be forced to speak with him.

Upon entering his office, placing coffee and pastry on his desk and hanging up his coat, he did a double take. Sitting innocently in the middle of the desk top was a rectangular block of stitched leather. His wallet was sitting in the middle of his desk. He picked it up and found no damage to it, and the inside was just as it had been before he had lost it. All of the cards were still in the same slots. The only thing missing was the cash. In its place was a folded piece of paper.

Sephiroth took out the paper and found a written note:

I.O.U. 400g.

Sorry about your ribs.

TGNY

He sat down at his chair, staring at the note and letting the wallet fall to the desk. None of his cards had had any activity after he had reported them missing, no withdraws had been attempted on any bank accounts. She had kept his wallet for three days and only taken the loose cash from it, and left an IOU in its place. It made him laugh.

Sephiroth was still laughing when Zack entered his office. He slowed his steps with more caution than necessary.

"You feeling okay there, Sunshine?" Zack asked the questions as though speaking to a madman.

"Yes."

"The coffee at that café can't be that good…you've been a storm cloud for days."

"It is that good. That's not why I'm laughing." He folded the note and put it back in its place. "I found my wallet."

"I thought that woman stole it?"

"She did."

"Then how'd you get it back?"

"She left it sitting on my desk."

"What? How did she get past security?"

"I've no idea…I'm not sure I care to know, either. But she owes me 400g, so maybe I'll see her again before long."

"Just 400g? I'd have cleaned out your bank account at the very least."

"I'll keep that in mind."

The rest of the day, Sephiroth was is a remarkably good mood. All tasks for the day were finished in enough time that he arrived at his mother's laboratory before sunset. She was surprised by his early arrival, and equally surprised at his desire to join her and Vincent for dinner.

"Well of course, dear! It would be so nice to have you. I'll let Vincent know we're coming home early."

They left together, Sephiroth following Lucrecia to the home he had grown up in. Situated quite near the plains that surrounded the city of Midgar, it was a sizable plot of land with an abundance of trees and a large white house with a porch that wrapped around the house from front to back. Many a day had been spent on the land when he was a child, running and playing games either alone or with one of his parents. He had never felt the sting of loneliness as a child, or even into adolescence. Life at the home of his parents had been delightful, if somewhat serious.

The inside of the house was nearly the same, the furnishings and decorations changed over the years, but it remained a warm and welcoming home for anyone that was fortunate enough to be invited inside. Such an invitation was rare, only extended to close friends.

He stayed well after dinner, the three of them comfortably seated and drinking tea or coffee.

"So, Sephiroth," Lucrecia said. "What's put you in such a good mood today? You've been rather cranky lately."

"Well," He paused long enough to make her purse her lips with impatience. Vincent merely held his cup and sat quietly. Sephiroth often thought his father considered the interactions between mother and son as a sort of private soap opera. "I found my wallet."

"Your wallet?! I thought you said that woman stole it?" Lucrecia was sitting up straight now, far from the relaxed position she held earlier. Vincent merely set his cup down and refilled it. It was nearly impossible to ruffle the man's feathers.

"She did. She broke into my office and left it sitting on my desk."

"She was there, in our building, and no one noticed?! What sort of slobs do they have working security there now?"

"I'm not surprised. If she can hide from us, despite the Shinra Company and military intelligence combined, then breaking into a building wouldn't be difficult."

"But-"

"Lucrecia." She stopped, a courtesy only extended to Vincent and on occasion to her son. "She is perhaps willing to meet with Sephiroth again. If so, it is possible she may come to speak with you or myself."

"She'd better not go and attack my son again. I'll not forgive her for doing that again."

"You forgive her for doing it the first time? Such love you show me, Mother."

"She was frightened and quite understandably angry. I know that I'd do everything I could to escape if it was me."

"At any rate, she left me an IOU for the money that was stolen. I'm curious as to how she'll do that."

He left for home, enjoying the drive to his home for the first time since the woman had woken up and tried to kill him. The night was quiet, with little traffic to distract him from his enjoyment. After entering his own home and settling on his couch to enjoy some television, he found himself falling asleep with the remote in hand.