Chapter 11: Yuffie's True Intentions

It had been at least two hours since the group had made their dramatic exit from Rocket Town on a plane which was now too badly damaged to fly. However thanks to the team's resourcefulness they were able to turn the Tiny Bronco into a boat and with the help of their newfound team mate Cid, a world renowned pilot the group were able to continued their journey.

Tifa was sat near the tail of the plane watching Zack and Aerith who were a few feet away from her. She watched with keen interest as Aerith continued to rest her head in Zack's chest while the drag human continued to have his arm wrapped round the Cetra's shoulder. Tifa couldn't help but feel a small amount of jealously towards her friend.

"What are you looking at?" A voice asked, Tifa turned round to see Cloud stood behind her.

"I was just…watching Aerith and Zack," Tifa answered as she pointed at the drag human and the Cetra. "It's funny isn't it, how even after everything Zack's been through and looking like a… you know…" Tifa faltered slightly trying to think of the best words to use.

"I know what you mean," Cloud replied, "Aerith loves him, she doesn't care what Zack looks like. Neither do I come to think of it, as long as he pulls his weight."

Tifa laughed when she heard Cloud say that, the ex SOLDIER smiled, Tifa's laughter was like music to his ears. "Hey Cloud, do you ever think about love?"

Cloud stared at Tifa trying hard to hide his shock, "to be honest…I haven't really thought about it," Cloud stated truthfully. "And I don't think now's really the best time to think about love."

Tifa sighed, "I guess you're right," she replied as she looked down at her feet. "But…it would feel nice to have someone close to you, someone you really care about and someone who cares about you back."

"I'm fine on my own," Cloud stated bluntly, an obvious lie.

"But wouldn't you get lonely?" Tifa questioned wondering how anyone could be fine alone.

"I guess so," Cloud replied, "but, I'm not ready for that sort of thing yet." Cloud sat down next to Tifa and the two talked as they cast the occasional glance at Zack and Aerith who were still in the same spot.

After a while the group started to approach land, "alright listen up you gobshites!" Cid yelled causing the whole group to stare at him, "we're approaching land so you'd better prepare yourselves!" The group looked out in front of them and they saw that they were indeed approaching land, the beach spread out in front of them and the towering mountains could be seen for miles around.

The group checked their packs to make sure they had everything, they made sure that their weapons were in working order as the Tiny Bronco made its way to the shore. Red looked to his left to see Yuffie stood next to him grinning. "What are you so cheerful about?" The beast asked curiously as the girl turned round to face him.

"Oh…errr…nothing…" Yuffie stammered trying to think of the best answer without arousing suspicion, "I'm just happy to be home…"

"I see…" Red replied taking on board what the ninja was saying, but he couldn't help but feel suspicious about Yuffie. "You're not up to anything are you?" He questioned eyeing Yuffie suspiciously.

"What are you implying Red?" Yuffie demanded as she glared at Red, the beast opened his mouth to speak but he seemed to think better of it and closed his mouth again.

"Now that you two have finished yer bitchin'," Cid remarked as the Tiny Bronco skidded to a halt at the beach. "Let's get on land!" The group jumped off the Tiny Bronco and took a look around, "well I'm totally fucked," Cid cursed as he sat down on a large stone and lit up a cigarette. Tifa scowled at the pilot but he just ignored it.

"Which way Yuffie?" Cloud asked as he stared at the ninja hoping for some directions.

"Oh, it's just up that hill over there," Yuffie answered helpfully as she pointed to a winding trail on her right, "then we've gotta cross a few rope bridges and…"

"Hey! Slow down would ya!?" Cid snapped causing Yuffie to stop in mid sentence, "I can't make head nor tail of what yer saying!"

"Why don't we just walk up the trail?" Aerith suggested smiling at both Cid and Yuffie, "then we'll deal with the bridges and whatever else there is when we get there, ok?"

There were general murmurs of agreement, "alright then," Cloud stated as he started walking in the direction that Yuffie had pointed to. "Let's get going."

Cid coughed as he almost swallowed his cigarette when he heard what Cloud said, "What…you want to go…right now…" He questioned in between coughs.

Cloud stopped in his tracks and he turned round to look back at Cid who had managed to control his coughing. "Why not?" Cloud asked not taking his eyes off the pilot, "the sooner we can get supplies and information on the Temple of the Ancients…"

"That's if it even exists," Zack cut in causing Cloud to turn and glare at the drag human. "I'm just saying that's all…" Zack added in a defensive tone.

"As I was saying…" Cloud continued choosing to ignore Zack's remark, "the sooner we get supplies and information, the sooner we can stop Sephiroth and the Shinra."

"Aw shit!" Cid cursed loudly as he looked forlornly at his half chewed cigarette, "I only lit up a moment ago!" Cid dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to snub it out, Yuffie scowled at him. "What…" Cid demanded not even bothering to look at Yuffie.

"Do you mind not littering my homeland?!" Yuffie snapped as she continued to scowl at Cid placing her hands on her hips.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I want!" Cid retorted as he looked up and glared at Yuffie hoping to stare her down. "And no annoying little punk like you can tell me what to do!"

"Can we just get going?!" Cloud yelled irritably causing the pilot and the ninja to stop arguing and they both stared at the ex SOLDIER who was scowling at them. Knowing what Cloud was capable of, the two decided to put their petty argument behind them, Cloud gave them a satisfied smile and the group set off up the trail with Yuffie running on ahead.

The trail was long and twisted and turned at regular intervals making it increasingly difficult for the group to traverse it. However the group pressed on with minimal complaining, (well Barret and Cid were the ones that were complaining but their complaints were mostly ignored.) Zack looked behind him to see that Aerith was flagging a bit, "poor Aerith," Zack thought to himself as he cast a sympathetic look at the Cetra. "Stamina never really was her strong point, but still she carries on without even complaining. Unlike the golden oldies back there…" Zack smirked as he saw Cid and Barret at the back of the group lagging behind and grumbling loudly.

Zack turned his attention back to Aerith he turned round and he walked back towards her, "you ok?" He asked his voice filled with concern.

Aerith looked up and smiled when she saw Zack, "yeah, I'm ok," she answered a little wearily as she continued to climb up the hill.

"I could carry you if you get too tired," Zack kindly offered as the Cetra shook her head.

"That's very kind of you Zack, but I can manage," Aerith politely brushed his offer to the side as the two continued to climb up the hill.

"You sure?" Zack asked as he continued to give Aerith a concerned stare, "you do look a little tired."

"I'm sure," Aerith answered, "the last thing I want is to be a burden to you."

"You're not a burden," Zack reasoned with Aerith as he smiled warmly at her. "Far from it, I wouldn't have offered if I thought you were gonna be a burden."

"I could do with being carried," Barret grumbled as he and Cid finally caught up to Zack and Aerith.

"Barret, the strongest man in the world couldn't handle your weight," Zack retorted as he turned his head round to look at the man. "Besides, I find it funny listening to you and Cid complaining." Zack added as he smirked at the two men causing them to scowl at him.

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M FAT?!" Barret's booming voice echoed through the plains.

"No," Zack replied as he turned round walked towards Barret, "I'm saying you should layoff the junk food," he answered in a joking manner as he playfully jabbed at Barret's stomach causing the man to scowl even more.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" Barret growled under his breath and glared so menacingly that Zack backed away.

"Eh he…" Zack laughed awkwardly as he continued to back away, "I gotta run Aerith…" Zack whispered in the Cetra's ear as he passed her, "but if you do get tired just say so!" After backing away a few more paces Zack turned round and ran up the hill as Barret charged after him aiming his gun arm at the drag human.

"GET BACK HERE YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Barret yelled at the top of his lungs as he continued to chase Zack up the hill.

Yuffie halted Zack and Barret ran round in circles round her, the ninja grinned at the sight. "At least I'm not on the receiving end of Barret's fierce temper this time," Yuffie muttered under her breath as she continued to grin.

After a while the group had finally climbed up the trail and took a few moments to catch their breath. Cid was the last person to climb up the trail and he sat down on the nearest boulder panting heavily. "Fuck me!" Cid cursed loudly as he continued to breathe heavily. "That climb sure took a lot out of me…"

"Well maybe if you didn't complain so much," Tifa admonished playfully wagging her finger in Cid's face causing the pilot to glare at her.

"I wasn't complaining!" Cid yelled defensively.

"Then why were you muttering shit, shit, shit, fuck, shit, under your breath?" Zack asked as he raised an eyebrow and smirked slyly at Cid.

"You could hear me…" Cid questioned as he stared at Zack in shock.

"My hearing is superior to a normal human's," Zack answered as he pointed to his ears. "I can hear the faintest sounds, you muttering swear words under your breath sounded like an earthquake to me."

"Damn! Remind me not to insult you while you're in earshot," Cid stated as he took out another cigarette and lit it. Tifa and Aerith scowled at him but he ignored it, Cid looked around but he noticed that Yuffie wasn't with them. "Hey, where'd that skiving, conniving bitch get to?" Cid asked as everyone turned to look at him.

"She probably wanted to get away from all the arguing and bickering," Aerith retorted as she continued to scowl at Cid.

"Which she causes most of the time," Cid argued back.

"And don't call her such horrible names!" Aerith snapped as she jabbed her finger into the pilot's chest, "I know she can be a little childish at times, but she's a good person deep down!" Zack snorted with laughter behind Aerith causing the Cetra to turn round and glare at him. "Find something funny Zack?" She demanded as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Yuffie…being a good person," Zack answered truthfully unfazed by the evil glare that Aerith was giving him. "Would a good person set up traps in a forest hoping that some unwitting strangers would walk into them?" Zack quizzed, Aerith faltered trying to think of a comeback but she knew that the drag human was right and Zack knew it as well as he grinned victoriously at her. "I didn't think so," Zack answered his own question still grinning as Aerith continued to glare at him.

"I have to agree with scales there," Cid stated agreeing with Zack, "It does seem like a suspicious way to meet people."

"Yeah," Zack agreed, "and I'll bet Cid's pack of twenty that Yuffie is up to something dodgy."

"Speaking of cigarettes," Aerith retorted as she marched up to Cid and knocked the cigarette he was holding out of his hand. "From now on this is a non-smoking trip."

Cid stared at Aerith in shock, "what the fuck did ya think you were doin'?!" He demanded, he stared in horror as Aerith stamped on the cigarette and twisted it under foot to snub it out.

"No more smoking!" Aerith admonished as she folded her arms and stared sternly at Cid, "it's bad for your health and I for one don't want to breathe in your smoke." Aerith turned and walked away from Cid.

"Damn woman…" Cid muttered under his breath as he glared at Aerith. "You're just as bad as Shera!" Cid yelled louder causing Aerith to turn round and glare at him.

"And I'll be a lot worse if I have to be!" Aerith snapped causing Cid to shrink back slightly, "and unlike Shera I won't take your abuse with gentle humour!" Cid continued to stare at Aerith, too shocked to even speak.

"Hi guys!" A shrill voice rang out, the group turned round to see Yuffie stood behind them smiling.

"Speak of the devil," Barret muttered, "where the hell have you been?!" He demanded as he stomped up to Yuffie.

"Oh that's a fine way to greet a skilled ninja!" Yuffie snapped as she glared at Barret and placed her hands on her hips.

"Skilled…" Barret repeated as he resisted the urge to laugh, "Don't make me laugh!"

"Where as you wouldn't know what skill is if it kicked you in the ass!" Yuffie argued back as Barret glared at her.

"Why you little…" Barret started to say but Aerith got in between them and held her hands out to stop them.

"Can't you two go five minutes without arguing?!" Aerith snapped irritably as she glared at both Barret and Yuffie, obviously in no mood for anymore conflict.

"Sheesh…" Yuffie let out a sigh, "what's your problem?" She asked as Aerith gave the ninja a dirty look.

"Nothing…" Zack quickly cut in as he walked up to the three grabbed hold of Aerith's wrist and started to drag her away, "probably just her time of the month…"

"It's not my time of the month!" Aerith yelled as she struggled against Zack's iron grip, "and even if it was, it's not why I'm moody!"

"Which way now Yuffie?" Cloud quickly asked the ninja changing the subject.

"Well, there's three bridges we have to cross," Yuffie answered, "the first one's not too far from here, come on!" She called out to the group as she ran on ahead.

"Again…" Cid muttered irritably as he got up from his seat, "all this mountain climbin' and crossin' bridges is too much for this old bugger!"

"We've been sat here for fifteen whole minutes," Vincent remarked, the first time he had spoken in a while.

"Well listen to old miserable git!" Cid retorted as he grinned at Vincent, "the way you've been actin' anyone would think that you're goin' to a funeral."

With one swift movement Vincent was behind Cid pointing his handgun at the pilot's head, the barrel of the gun pressing against Cid's temple. "Careful Cid," Zack joked as he watched the scene trying hard not to laugh. "Vincent has a gun, and it looks like he knows how to use it."

"Can we all just get moving please?!" Cloud snapped irritably causing Zack, Cid and Vincent to stare at the ex SOLDIER who was glaring at them. Vincent sighed, he pulled his handgun away from Cid's head and he put it back into its holster on the opposite side to where he kept his shotgun.

"And I thought only women suffered from PMT," Zack commented as the group started to follow Yuffie.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Tifa and Aerith demanded in unison as they glared at Zack with their hands placed on their hips.

"Nothing…" Zack answered nervously, the two women continued to give Zack dirty looks. They were both tempted to kick him where it hurts, but they thought better of it and turned round to catch up to Yuffie. Half an hour later the group reached the first bridge, Zack walked forwards and began to examine the bridge. The bridge was old, and seemed to sway dangerously in the wind. Some of the planks were missing and the ropes holding the bridge up looked worn and ready to snap at any moment.

"Are you sure this bridge is safe?" He asked as he looked at Yuffie.

"Of course," the ninja answered as she stepped forwards. "I've been using this bridge for years."

"It looks like it could break at any moment," Zack remarked as he pointed to the worn ropes holding the bridge up.

"Well if you're gonna be a big baby, I'll go first!" Yuffie snapped as she stepped on to the bridge and she crept slowly along it. "Aaaahhhh…" Yuffie gasped as she felt the bridge shake, she heard laughing behind her. Yuffie turned round and she saw Zack there shaking the bridge. "Stop that!" She snapped as Zack released the ropes and stopped shaking it, Yuffie continued to cross the bridge and she soon reached the other side.

"Come on!" Yuffie called over to the group, "it's safe, but it can only take one person at a time!" Yuffie warned as one by one everyone crossed the bridge, fifteen minutes later everyone was safely on the other side. Yuffie led the way to the next bridges and the group crossed both bridges without too much trouble.

It was approaching sunset by the time the group crossed the third bridge and were back in the fields again. By that time they were all tired and hungry. "We'll set up camp here and rest for the night," Cloud stated much to the relief of everyone, "then we'll carry on tomorrow."

The group took the packs off their backs and began to set up camp, there was a forest near their campsite and Yuffie volunteered to get some firewood. The camp was already set up by the time she returned, there were too large tents set up. Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie were sharing one tent and Cloud, Zack, Barret and Cid were sharing the other. Red preferred to sleep under the stars while Cait Sith and Vincent said that didn't need sleep.

Zack set up the fire and used his flame breath to set the wood alight, Tifa and Aerith took some food out of their bags and they began to cook food for everyone. Once everyone had had their fill of food, the men entered their tent safe for Vincent, Red and Cait Sith who remained outside. Red curled up near the remains of the fire and fell asleep instantly, Vincent and Cait Sith wandered off to do their own thing. The three women entered their tent, Aerith put her bag down next to her sleeping bag and she removed the materia pouch from round her waist and put it next to her bag as she and Tifa got changed into their nightclothes. (A/N, yes Aerith keeps all the materia in a pouch round her waist, I know I said that she keeps it in her bag. But from now on she keeps the materia in a pouch, I apologise for the consistency error.) Yuffie eyed the materia pouch eagerly before she reached into her own bag grinning.

"Err…Aerith," Yuffie called out the Cetra's name, Aerith looked up and smiled at Yuffie.

"What is it?" She asked kindly.

"Well…I think I may have replaced my nightclothes after our dramatic exit from Rocket Town," Yuffie lied through her teeth. "I was wondering if I could borrow yours, you know, just until we get into town and I can buy a new one."

"Sure, I'll see what I can do," Aerith replied as she reached into her bag. Yuffie made sure that neither Aerith nor Tifa were looking before she grabbed the materia pouch and put it into her own bag before she replaced the pouch with an identical one just as Aerith had found what she was looking for. "Lucky for you I had a spare," the Cetra told Yuffie as she pulled out a long pink nightdress made out of silk. "I know it's a little big," Aerith continued as she gave the nightdress to Yuffie, "but I'm sure it'll be fine for one night."

"Yeah…thanks," Yuffie thanked as she forced a smile on to her face, Aerith smiled back before she crawled into her sleeping bag. Aerith looked over to her right to see that Tifa was already in her sleeping bag, fast asleep. Aerith yawned as she drifted off to sleep, Yuffie grinned as she watched the two women sleep, her plan was working perfectly. Yuffie grimaced at the pink nightdress Aerith had lent her and she threw it over Aerith's bag before she picked up her own bag and walked out of the tent with the materia pouch in it.

The sound of birds singing could be heard as morning approached, Aerith moaned slightly as the morning sun peeped through the entrance of the tent and shone in her face. Aerith slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, after taking a moment to adjust to being awake she got up and got changed into her travelling clothes. She was about to put her sleeping bag back into her pack when she noticed the pink nightdress she had lent Yuffie the night before.

"Maybe she found her nightclothes," Aerith stated as she put the nightdress as well as the sleeping bag back into her pack and put the materia pouch round her waist. "Or maybe the nightdress wasn't really her thing…I wonder where she is." Aerith heard soft moaning to her right as Tifa woke up, Aerith turned to her right as the raven haired woman sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Morning sleepy head," Aerith greeted cheerfully as Tifa smiled sleepily at the brown haired woman.

"Morning," Tifa answered back as she let herself adjust before she got up and got dressed. Tifa noticed that Yuffie's things were gone, including her sleeping bag. "Hey, where'd Yuffie get to?" She asked as she looked at her friend.

"Dunno," Aerith replied as she shrugged her shoulders, "maybe she's outside, we should check." Aerith suggested as Tifa put her things into her bag and the two women walked out of their tent to find the men gathered round a new campfire.

"'Bout time you gals got up!" Barret hollered as Aerith and Tifa walked over to the campfire and sat down.

"How long have you guys been up for?" Tifa asked.

"About five minutes," Zack answered as he poked a long fork into the fire, "we're just making breakfast." Zack continued as he took the pan of food out of the fire and started putting it on to plates.

"Well that makes a nice change," Aerith stated as Tifa giggled. Zack scowled at the two women as he passed the plates of food round.

"You guys haven't seen Yuffie have you?" Tifa asked the guys after the group had eaten.

"Nope," Cloud replied as the men shook their heads, "we thought she was in the tent with you two."

"We haven't seen her since last night," Aerith answered.

"It's possible that the lass has gone on ahead," Cait Sith theorised as he bounced up to the group. "If that's the case then we should hurry if we want to catch up with her."

"Where've you been?" Zack asked eyeing the cat suspiciously.

"I was just…goin' for a wee stroll," Cait Sith answered nervously hoping that the group would buy his lie. Zack continued to stare at Cait Sith with the same sceptical expression but he didn't say anything else.

"Cait Sith's right," Cloud stated quickly changing the subject, "if Yuffie has gone on ahead we should leave now if we want to catch her up. Besides, Wutai isn't that far from here." Zack threw dirt on to the fire to put it out and the group quickly dismantled the camp before setting off again.

"There they are! Get them" A voice bellowed loudly as the group found themselves surrounded by several men wearing blue uniforms brandishing guns.

"The Shinra…" Red stated in surprise as the group withdrew their weapons and got into fighting stances not taking their eyes off the soldiers.

"Hey!" Another soldier yelled as he looked at his comrades, "That's not them, these are the other guys from before!"

"What should we do?" Another solder asked looking towards his comrades for answers.

"Just grab them!" The commander ordered, "Grab them and ask questions later!" The soldiers obediently pointed their guns at the group.

"It's so nice to be wanted," Zack muttered sarcastically as he snarled menacingly at the solders nearest to him causing them to cower in fear.

"Yeah," Cloud replied agreeing with Zack as he swung his sword round and held it behind him. "Aerith, pass us some materia," Cloud called out to the Cetra as she reached into her materia pouch.

"Err…Cloud…" Aerith started to say but no one else seemed to hear her as battle was already underway. Cloud charged towards the soldiers and leapt into the air performing a powerful braver attack slicing one of the soldiers in half before he quickly followed up with a cross slash attack cutting another soldier into confetti.

Two SOLDIERs 2nd class charged at Tifa aiming to punch her, "I'd hate to have to hurt a pretty girl like you," one of them stated as Tifa easily dodged his punch.

"How about you and I go out after all this is over?" The other SOLDIER flirted with Tifa.

Tifa grinned at the SOLDIER as she charged at him and punched him several times viciously as she performed her infamous beat rush attack. "Sorry…" Tifa performed a backwards somersault on the SOLDIER, "I don't…" She performed a powerful upper cut on the SOLDIER breaking his helmet in half and cracking his jaw, "date…" Tifa elbowed the SOLDIER in the stomach winding him before she picked him and spun him round above her head. "Losers…" Tifa leapt into the air and swung the SOLDIER round repeatedly, "like you!" She yelled as she threw the SOLDIER to the ground, the SOLDIER slammed into his comrade with such force that both SOLDIERs skidded along the ground knocking over several more of their comrades. Tifa landed gracefully on the ground and dusted her hands off as she grinned at the downed SOLDIERs.

Vincent and Barret were stood back to back pumping the soldiers full of lead. Midway through the shooting match Barret ran out of ammo, he pulled what looked like a small energy ball and threw it at the soldiers shooting at him. The ball exploded on impact and body parts fell to the floor, Vincent smirked at the carnage as he blew a hole in the chests of several soldiers in a row with his shot gun.

Cid leapt into the air and thrust his spear downwards impaling a soldier on it, the pilot then swung his spear round impaling more soldiers on to it their blood oozing to the ground. Cid knocked the bodies off his spear before he ran off to fight more.

Zack ducked just in time as a soldier charged at him with a rapier, a strike which would've taken his head off if he was a second slower. The soldier tried to strike Zack again but the drag human was too quick for him, Zack kneed the man in the stomach winding him and causing him to drop his weapon upon impact. "Ok…the rapier thing, is really starting to get old," Zack whispered in the soldier's ear. The soldier whimpered as he felt Zack's warm breath on the back of his neck and he knew that his life was at its end. Zack's pointed ears pricked up as he heard footsteps pounding on the ground behind him, with a quick flick of his tail Zack managed to grab his attack by the throat. Zack turned his head round slightly to see another rapier wielding soldier struggling against Zack's tail which was currently wrapped round the man's throat.

Zack grinned evilly as his tail tightened round the soldier's neck strangling him, after a moment of struggling the soldier hung limp and lifeless. Zack unravelled his tail causing the soldier's body to fall to the ground unmoving, his comrade who had witnessed the whole thing and who managed to get his breath back while Zack was distracted started to run off petrified. However Zack was soon on the soldier's tail, Zack threw himself at the soldier using his weight to drag the soldier down. They both fell to the floor with the drag human on top punching the soldier hard in every spot he could find.

"Where did you think you were going?" Zack demanded as he punched the soldier hard in the face almost breaking his jaw. "I'm not finished with you yet!" Zack climbed off the soldier and dragged the man to his feet, the beaten and bruised soldier was staring at Zack through his damaged helmet. "Let me give you some ice for that!" Zack yelled in a joking man as he threw an ice ball at the soldier turning his whole body into ice. Zack then pulled his fist back and punched the frozen man causing him to shatter into pieces the ice shards flew all over the place causing all the fighters to shield their eyes so they wouldn't get any shards in their eyes.

Red howled at the sky causing stars to fall from the cosmos eliminating the remaining soldiers until only the commander was left. The group turned round and glared at the commander each of them in battle stances, realising that he was fiercely outnumbered and wouldn't stand a chance against a formidable group he turned tail and ran.

"Fuckin' coward!" Cid yelled after the commander, "get back here and we'll kick yer scrawny ass to kingdom come!" Cloud shook his head at the pilot as he walked over to Aerith.

"Aerith, I thought I told you to give us some materia," Cloud stated in an exasperated tone.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," Aerith replied in a worried tone as the rest of the group walked up to her and Cloud. "The materia…it's…gone…" Aerith informed the group as they all stared at her in shock.

"WHAT DO YA MEAN IT'S GONE?!" Barret demanded loudly as he glared at Aerith, Aerith sighed but she said nothing. She removed the pouch from her waist and tipped the contents out of it, countless pebbles dropped to the floor, Zack bent down and picked one up.

"Pebbles…" Zack questioned as he examined the pebble in his hand, "but that's insane…I mean who'd replace our materia with…"

"Yuffie…" Zack and Cloud spoke in perfect unison as the two men stared at each other and an understanding passed between them.

"I should've known!" Cloud yelled as he kicked the other pebbles on the ground, "why didn't I see it before?"

"None of us did," Tifa stated as she placed her hand on Cloud's shoulder, "we all trusted Yuffie."

"Yeah…well it turns out it was a wrong move," Zack added as he threw the pebble he was holding to the ground. "She only joined us because she wanted our materia."

"Zack's right," Red agreed with the drag human, "if it wasn't us, then it would've been someone else as long as they have their pockets lined with gil or they had materia on them."

"Are you sayin' that Yuffie was hangin' around that forest waitin' for some poor sap to walk in?" Barret questioned as he stared at Red, the beast nodded.

"It seems like a reasonable assumption," Red answered, "she was always bragging about her skills."

"Just wait till I get my hands on her!" Tifa snapped as she cracked her knuckles, "I'll kill her, I really will bloody murder her!"

"Well you're gonna have to get in line missy," Cid retorted as he tightened his grip on his spear, there were general murmurs of agreement and Barret and Vincent were stroking their guns much to Aerith's displeasure. "See what I tell ya," Cid added in a triumphant tone as he grinned at the look on Aerith's face. "Everyone wants a piece of her, includin' you."

"I don't want a piece of her!" Aerith denied vehemently as she turned her back on Cid and folded her arms stubbornly.

"Sure Aerith…" Zack replied mockingly causing Aerith to scowl at him, "let's just find Yuffie so I can disembowel her." Aerith stared at Zack unsure of what he meant.

"In layman's terms, he's gonna rip out Yuffie's internal organs," Cid explained in graphic detail causing Aerith to glare at the pilot and back at Zack again.

"You're not going to rip out Yuffie's internal organs are you?" Aerith quizzed as she gave Zack an evil glare.

"No of course not…" Zack answered an obvious lie, "I'm gonna start with the outside first," Zack continued showing his fangs as he grinned at Aerith who was still scowling at him. Cid and Barret chuckled to themselves. "First I'm gonna break her legs so she can't run, then I'm gonna break her arms, then I'm gonna snap her scrawny neck and…" Zack paused for a minute as he thought about it, "wait, I better save that till last," Zack said changing his mind and running his hand through his spiky hair. "I want to cause her as much pain as possible before I kill her."

"I got dibs on the lungs!" Cid requested loudly before Barret had a chance to say anything, causing the man with the gun arm to give the pilot a disappointed stare. "I've always wanted to play the bagpipes."

"No one's going to be killing Yuffie, right Cloud? Cloud…" Aerith questioned as she looked over in Cloud's direction to see the ex SOLDIER sharpening his sword with one of the pebbles. "CLOUD!" Aerith yelled at the leader of Avalanche causing him to drop the pebble and put his sword back on to his back.

"What?" Cloud asked trying to look innocent, "My sword needed sharpening," he lied but Aerith glared at him seeing through the lie.

"Looks like Cloud's jumpin' on the bandwagon!" Cid remarked with a smirk as Aerith turned round and scowled at him.

"Can we just get going?" Cloud demanded however he couldn't help but smirk, "I'd like to find Yuffie and get our materia back before nightfall." Without another word and hell bent on getting Yuffie back for stealing their materia, the group resumed their journey and they eventually ended up in the village of Wutai. An oriental style town with surpassing beauty, a river flowed through the village separating it into three islands and a large mountain towered above the village. The group saw Yuffie on the opposite side of the river to them.

"There she is!" Zack informed his friends as he pointed at Yuffie.

"Oh shit!" Yuffie cursed as she saw the group, she ran off as quickly as she could, Cloud and the others tried to follow her but she had disappeared and couldn't be found.

"Shit!" Cid yelled at the top of his lungs kicking the ground as he did so, "where did that lyin' thievin' bitch run off to!?"

"She can't have gone far," Cloud replied as he looked round the town as the townspeople stopped and stared at the group for a second before they continued with their daily business. "Let's spread out and search." Everyone split off into teams of twos and threes and walked round the town to search for Yuffie, Cloud and Zack walked into a building with a sign saying Turtle's Paradise on the side of it. The two men saw that they were inside a bar, like the rest of the town the bar had an oriental theme complete with a fish pond at the far corner of the room.

"I guess we better start asking around," Cloud said to Zack with a sigh as the drag human smirked.

"Good idea," Zack agreed still smirking, "although a shrill voiced, flat chested, highly annoying sneak thief shouldn't exactly be hard to find." Cloud shook his head at Zack's remark but he smiled lightly and started to walk further into the room, they were about to go up to the bar and ask about Yuffie when Zack bumped into a young blonde woman carrying a glass of white wine spritzer causing a small amount of the liquid to spill on to her jacket.

"You clumsy idiot!" The woman yelled as she glared at Zack, "you made me spill some of my drink!"

"Sorry about that," Zack apologised as he looked the woman up and down, his eyes grew wide with shock as he realised who it was. "Elena…" Zack uttered the woman's name causing Cloud to stop and stare at Elena in shock.

Elena leapt back as she realised who had bumped into her, "y…you two…" Elena managed to get out as she staggered backwards not taking her eyes off the two men. "How did you get here?"

"We could ask you the same question," Cloud retorted causing Zack to snicker slightly.

"Good comeback," Zack complemented Cloud as he high fived him, this caused Elena to scowl at them.

"Not that it matters," She continued choosing to ignore the remarks, she put her glass down on a table next to her and she got into a fighting stance. "I guess fate brought us together."

"Sorry, I don't date school girls," Zack muttered in a mocking tone pretending to completely misunderstand what Elena was saying causing the Turk to become even more frustrated.

"Like I'd go out with a freak like you anyway!" Elena snapped at the drag human as she continued to glare at him, her blonde hair falling into her face.

"Oooooooohhhh…" Cloud moaned mockingly, he pretended to cringe as he smirked at Zack causing the drag human to glare at him. "That was a low blow…"

"Shut up!" Elena snapped at Cloud, as she continued to glare at the two men still in her fighting stance, "Prepare to die!" Elena however showed no intention of fighting, Cloud stared at Zack who merely shrugged in reply. "Reno, Rude…" Elena whispered to the side, Cloud and Zack looked to the side at the table Elena had put her glass on and saw that Reno and Rude were sat at the table each one drinking a bottle of beer. "I need backup."

Reno and Rude however didn't move and they continued to down their drinks, "…Elena, you talk too much…" Reno stated slightly drunk when he had finished his drink and started to open another bottle of beer he had bought at the bar earlier.

Elena brought her fists down and turned round to stare at the red haired Turk, "Wh…what…" Elena stuttered hardly daring to believe what she was hearing, Reno never gave up an opportunity to fight Cloud and the others if they crossed paths. "I don't understand…"

Reno sighed irritably as he half glared and half stared at Elena, he seemed to have lost the will to even stand. "Elena, what are we doing here in the middle of nowhere?" Reno asked not taking his eyes off his comrade.

"We're taking our vacation and resting up from our work," Elena answered.

"Vacation…" Zack asked as he stared from Reno and Rude who held the bottles of beer in their hands to Elena who was staring at Reno with the same shocked expression. "You're not here for any other reason?"

"Yes, we're on vacation," Reno answered frustrated that Avalanche would turn up just when he was starting to enjoy himself. "And thanks to you guys showing up and Elena overreacting our vacation is ruined."

"I don't overreact!" Elena snapped at Reno as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the semi drunk Turk.

"You're doing it now," Reno commented as he stared at Elena, "damn…she's cute when she's angry…" Reno thought to himself and a smirk spread across his face as he continued to stare at Elena, but he was able to wipe the smirk off his face and he replaced it with a more serious expression.

"B…but…" Elena stammered as her anger was replaced with confusion at Reno's words.

"Even the booze tastes bad now…" Rude spoke up for the first time in the conversation, he wasn't as drunk as Reno but he was getting close to it.

"I…I'm sorry…" Elena apologised, she was about to sit down when she remembered that Cloud and Zack were still stood there and she turned her attention back to them. "You guys were lucky, this time," she added in a more threatening tone as she pointed her finger warningly at them. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind and decide to go after you."

Ooohhhh, we're so scared…" Zack sarcastically shot back as his body shook, "look at me…I'm shaking…"

"Zack…quit while you're ahead…" Cloud whispered in the drag human's ear, Elena merely scowled at them before she sat down and drank her drink but she didn't take her eyes off Cloud and Zack as the two walked out of the bar, just hearing Reno and Rude making drunken toasts to mundane things.

"That was weird…" Zack stated as he pointed back towards the Turtle's Paradise, "So why do you think the Turks are really here?"

"Who knows?" Cloud replied with a shrug, "apart from Elena shouting the odds, they weren't really causing trouble," Cloud reasoned as Zack nodded in agreement. "Let's just focus on finding Yuffie and getting our materia back." Cloud and Zack moved away from the Turtle's Paradise, they passed more buildings, both shops and house as they walked through a small forest filled with blossom trees. Cloud and Zack entered the other side of the town where they saw more buildings and market place in front of them. At the far side of the area they saw a tall pagoda style building, Cloud and Zack looked to their right and they saw a large mansion they walked towards the mansion and they saw their friends stood outside the entrance waiting for them.

"'bout bloody time you guys got here!" Cid cursed loudly as he smoked another cigarette much to Aerith's annoyance. "How long were you plannin' on keepin' us waitin'?"

"Any luck?" Tifa asked as she walked up to Cloud and wrapped her hands round his neck.

"Nope," Cloud answered as he shook his head, he smiled slightly as he felt Tifa's warm breath on his neck. Though he hated to admit it, he liked having Tifa close to him, she made him feel complete, whole. Of course, he didn't tell her that, he was too embarrassed to. "Oh Tifa…" The ex SOLDIER thought sadly to himself as Tifa still had her arms wrapped round his neck. "I wish you knew how I really feel about you, I'm just not sure how to express myself." Cloud soon snapped out of his thoughts, he had more pressing issues right now, like finding Yuffie and getting the materia back. Also he wanted to find as much information about the Temple of the Ancients as he could. "Did you have any luck?" Cloud asked as Tifa released her hold on Cloud.

"Not really," Tifa replied as she shook her head, "we asked around but no one seemed to be able to help us."

"It's like she disappeared off the face of the planet," Aerith added as she walked up to Zack and hugged him. "We couldn't find her anywhere, so we kept walking through the town and we ended up here," Aerith explained as she gestured towards the mansion.

"An' we've been sittin' on our asses waitin' for you guys to show your faces," Barret stated irritably.

"Sorry about that," Zack apologised, "we were a little side tracked, what with the Turks an' all."

The group stared at Zack and Cloud in shock, "the Turks were here?" Vincent quizzed his emotions were unreadable however he reached for the hand gun at his side. "What were they up to this time?"

"Relaxing, drinking themselves stupid…" Zack answered as he stared nervously at Vincent's hand which had tightened round the hand gun. "Elena was making a scene but other than that they weren't causing any trouble."

"Come on," Cloud quickly changed the subject as he walked up the steps to the entrance of the mansion, "We'll go inside and ask if anyone has seen Yuffie." Everyone nodded in agreement, they didn't have any other ideas. They followed Cloud up the steps and the ex SOLDIER pushed the door open and the group entered the mansion to find themselves in an extravagant entrance hall. A large fountain stood in the centre of the hall, the sides of the room were lined with decorative columns with ivy wrapped round them, a grand double staircase twisted down behind the fountain and countless rooms branched from the hall. Servants were rushing round tidying the place up and making sure everything was in order.

The group stood there staring at the decor, their mouths were wide open with shock. The cigarette that Cid was smoking fell out of his mouth. "Holy shit!" Cid's voice echoed through the vast hall, all the servants stopped what they were doing and turned round to stare at the group. "What are you staring at?!" Cid snapped at the servants who immediately returned to whatever task they were doing.

"Wow!" Aerith squealed hardly able to contain her excitement as she jumped up and down and ran her finger along the patterns of the pillar that was nearest to her. "This place certainly is exotic," she commented as she turned back and smiled at Zack. "I'd love to live in a place like this, wouldn't you?" She asked as her smile grew wider.

"I dunno…" Zack answered, "I think a place like this might get a little lonely with just us on our own."

"Are you kidding?!" Tifa asked, she too was unable to contain her excitement. "A large and beautiful mansion with over 500 rooms, servants waiting on you hand and foot, extravagant food…" She sighed happily closing her eyes as she imagined life as a lady of leisure. "Sounds like my idea of heaven," Aerith nodded agreeing whole heartedly with her friend.

"I think mansions are overrated," Vincent spoke up, he was stood a little behind the group leaning against the door post, his voice and his expression bore no emotion.

"You're such a party pooper," Aerith stated in a playful manner as she stuck her tongue out at the raven haired man causing him to become a little irritated.

"I'm not one for parties," Vincent merely said as he pushed himself off the wall, "besides, I'm entitled to my opinion."

"I never said you weren't," Aerith said in a defensive tone.

"Guys, we're here to find Yuffie," Cloud reminded the group of their task.

"And I thought you were gonna say that we have to find Sephiroth," Barret stated with a smirk as the blond haired man scowled at his friend. "That's what you normally say," Barret added. Cloud was about to say something but a young female servant with black hair tied back in a bun wearing a servant uniform saw the group and she walked up to them.

"May I help you?" She asked politely as she smiled and bowed to the group.

"Yeah," Cloud answered as he turned away from Barret and looked at the girl, "we'd like to see the master of this mansion."

"I'm sorry, but Lord Godo has specifically requested not to be disturbed," the girl informed the group as she bowed again.

"Please," Red pleaded with the girl, she stared at the beast too shocked for words. "This is an emergency, and we were hoping that this Lord Godo could help us."

"That beast…" The girl stammered finally finding her voice. "I…it…talks…"

"Of course," Red muttered rolling his eyes, "I'm not just some monster that lacks intelligence," Red said this a little more irritably than he intended but the reaction he had received when he spoke annoyed him greatly even though he was used to it.

"He gets that reaction a lot," Aerith stated sympathetically as she rubbed the beast at the back of the ears.

"I…I'm sorry," the girl apologised again, "it's just that, we don't normally allow pets inside unless of course they belong to Lord Godo."

"He's not a pet," Zack stated the girl then looked up and noticed Zack.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh! A monster!" She yelled in fear as she leapt back.

"Gee…that makes me feel so much better," Zack muttered sarcastically as he glared at the girl.

"I'm so sorry," the girl apologised for a third time, "I've never seen anything like you before, I just assumed that you…"

"Were a monster…" Zack finished the girl's sentence for her, he had had that reaction a lot since he escaped from the Shinra building and he wondered if he would ever be normal again. "I'm used to it."

"I'll take you to Lord Godo," the girl said quickly changing the subject. She had become so flustered that she had forgotten what her master had requested. "Please, come this way," the girl bowed again and she led the group through a door at the back of the hall. The group followed the girl through a corridor where they saw even more rooms.

"Man, whoever this Lord Godo is he's one lucky son of bitch," Cid commented as he just saw the grand dinning room.

"Well Lord Godo does run this town," the girl stated as the group turned a corner and walked down another corridor. "Being Lord does have its perks," the group eventually stopped at a door on the right. "Lord Godo normally stays in this room," the girl informed the group. "I must warn you though he's a very proud man and can be easily offended so watch what you say, and please, show him respect, he's a very powerful man."

"We will," Cloud replied, "and thanks." The girl smiled and she bowed again to the group before she walked back down the corridor to return to her duties. Cloud opened the door slowly and carefully and the group crept into the room. It was a decent sized room decorated with a red carpet trimmed with gold, there were many small lanterns lighting the room. The group walked further into the room where they saw a middle aged but powerfully built man wearing black and white robes and black hair tied back in a bun lying on futon seemingly asleep.

Zack crept up to the sleeping man, "do you think this is Lord Godo?" He asked as he looked back at his friends.

"Could be laddie," Cait Sith replied, "that kind lass who led us here did say that Lord Godo stayed in this room a lot."

Zack shrugged and he gently nudged the man with his foot, "gah…" the man moaned as he turned over on his side. "What do you want?" He muttered irritably he still looked asleep, Zack was about to respond but the man spoke again. "Look I don't have much…" Zack snorted under his breath, he considered that to be an understatement. "But you should be able to…rest here…" Zack looked over at Cloud and the others, Cloud shrugged wondering if the man even knew what he was saying.

"We're looking for a girl named Yuffie," Zack started to ask the sleeping man, "we were wondering if you've seen her."

"Yuffie…" The man muttered as his opened his eyes when he heard the name, "nope, never heard of her…" The man stated as he closed his eyes again wishing to go back to sleep.

"Are you sure?" Zack questioned, "We know she's in this town somewhere, we just don't know where she is."

The man's eyes snapped open again, "you again!" He yelled irritably not wishing to look at Zack, nevertheless the man knew that the drag human was there. "I told you once and I'm telling you again, I don't know her!" However Zack continued to ask the man questions causing the man to sit up in frustration, "are you deaf!?" He snapped irritably at having been disturbed, "I said I don't know her! There isn't anyone named Yuffie in this town!" The man stood up and he saw the group for the first time, "…I haven't seen you lot around before…" He stated a little calmer.

"Are you Lord Godo?" Cloud asked as he stared at the man.

"Yes I am," Godo answered proudly as his chest swelled with pride, "I run this town and the land you see all around you." Godo stepped off his futon and paced round the room, "although I've been seeing a lot of Shinra soldiers round here lately," Godo explained a hint of worry in his voice. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?" Godo asked as he turned round and eyed the group suspiciously.

"No," Cloud answered shaking his head, "we're not affiliated with the Shinra."

"Humph," Godo snorted as he glared at the group, "come to think of it, I don't care who you are, if you're in trouble with the Shinra then I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"That's nice…" Zack muttered sarcastically Cloud scowled at Zack as if to say not now.

"I'm asking you politely to leave," Godo stated through gritted teeth become more agitated by the second, "I don't want the Shinra hanging around here looking over my shoulder."

"WHAT'S WITH YOU!? YOU COWARD!" A shrill voice echoed throughout the surrounding area, the group looked towards the door to see Yuffie drop down from the ceiling outside Godo's room. Godo turned round and staggered back a few paces when he saw her too shocked to speak.

"Y…Yuffie…" Godo uttered, the only word he could really say.

"You scared of the Shinra?" Yuffie questioned in a mocking tone as she scowled at Godo folding her arms and tapping her foot irritably. "Then why don't you fall into line and obey them like all the other towns!" She yelled mockingly as she stepped into the room and looked at the group, "these guys are the ones who are really fighting the Shinra," she explained to Godo.

"Shut up!" Godo snapped at Yuffie losing all his composure and patience, "just shut up! What would an insolent little brat know about this?!" Godo demanded not taking his eyes off the young girl that stood before him.

"Ouch…" Zack whispered to Cloud who merely nodded.

"You get beaten once and that's it!" Yuffie snapped back glaring at Godo, she didn't take too lightly to being called an insolent brat and she revelled in the fact that she could remind Godo that he wasn't invincible. "What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?!"

"No kid like you is going to speak to me like that!" Godo retorted as he walked towards Yuffie, "you keep acting like a spoilt brat!" You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Godo continued to yell his face had gone red with anger.

"That's my style!" Yuffie argued back tired of being told what to do, her body was tensed up and her hands were balled into fists. "And it's my own business, not yours! Don't you try and dictate what I do!" Yuffie continued to tell Godo what she thought effectively putting him in his place, Godo was just stood there staring at Yuffie in shock.

"Style…dictate…" Godo muttered those two words as he held his head with his hands trying to comprehend the words. "Throwin' around all those fancy words…you're a miserable daughter!" Godo blurted out in front of a shocked group.

"Humph…" Yuffie snorted irritably, "and you're a sad excuse for a father!" Godo let out an angry cry as he chased Yuffie out of the room, Godo stopped outside the door as Yuffie ran off and disappeared. Godo walked back into the room and stood with his back to the group breathing deeply trying to hold on to whatever dignity he had left.

"I can see where Yuffie gets her temper and stubbornness from…" Zack muttered barely above a whisper so that Godo couldn't hear him, Cloud nodded in agreement.

Godo turned back round again and glared at the group, "take your things and get out of here now," he commanded as calmly as he could. "To protect Wutai, we cannot afford to stand up to the Shinra."

Not wishing to be told twice the group left the room and walked out of the mansion, "wow…" Tifa spoke up as soon as they were safely out of the mansion. "I never knew Yuffie's father was a lord."

"She never told us," Zack stated, "just like she never told us that she was intending to steal our materia."

"I'm sorry," Aerith apologised as she hung her head sadly, "I should've realised."

"You trusted her," Tifa reassured Aerith, "we all did."

"Well, we're not gonna get our materia back just standing here," Cloud stated as he leapt off the steps and turned back to face the group, "let's get going." The group left the courtyard and found themselves back in the main town, they crossed a bridge to another part of the town and they entered a building where an old man was sat on a mat and a young boy was stood next to him.

"Oh no…" The boy moaned when he saw the group, "more weirdoes…"

"Weirdoes…" Zack repeated the last word the boy said.

"These aren't the people that came in here before," the old man stated as he tried to console his grandson. "Although they do look a little strange."

"What are we going to do gramps?" The boy asked his grandfather in desperation, "Some strange looking girl came in here a while ago and I…" But the boy never finished his sentence, however it was all the group needed to here.

"Strange looking girl…" Red mused, "Maybe she's still here."

"Only one way to find out," Cloud replied, he looked to his left and he spotted a screen. "Hmmm…I wonder," Cloud thought out loud as he walked over to the screen and pulled it back to reveal Yuffie hidden behind it in a sitting position. Cloud smirked as Yuffie looked up and saw him.

"Huh…" She spoke up in shock as she realised that her hiding place had been rumbled, before Cloud could do or say anything Yuffie darted to her feet and ran out of the house as fast as she could. The group ran out of the house to try and catch up with her, they made their way back to the Turtle's Paradise tavern where they saw a large pot vase outside the building shaking slightly.

"Hmmm…odd…" Zack stated as he stared at the vase, "I've never seen a vase do that before…unless…"

"What are you getting at?" Aerith asked as the drag human grinned.

"I think I know where Yuffie's hiding," Zack answered, "Cloud, Tifa, can you two block the bridges?"

"Why?" Tifa asked.

"If Yuffie tries to pull a fast one she won't be able to escape," Zack replied, Cloud and Tifa nodded and ran to the bridges as Zack knelt down and pressed his ear against the vase while tapping it with his clawed fingers.

"Just as I thought," Zack stated, "I can hear her breathing, now it's just a case of luring her out." Zack stood up and retracted his claws back into his fingers as he balled one of his hands into a fist and pulled it back before it shot forwards at lightning speed and struck the vase smashing it and revealing a dazed Yuffie inside it. Yuffie quickly came round and leapt to her feet before Zack could grab her, she ran to the bridge straight ahead of her but her path was blocked by Tifa. Yuffie than ran to the bridge to her right but again her escape route was blocked by Cloud, Yuffie took a few paces back and found herself completely surrounded by the group.

"End of the line missy," Cid stated triumphantly as he pointed his spear at Yuffie, "you ain't goin' anywhere."

"You can't get away this time Yuffie," Cloud told her as he and the rest of the group glared at her and it was at that moment that Yuffie knew she was beaten.

O…ok…" Yuffie stammered making no further attempts to escape, "I know…I was wrong…you win…I'll give you back your materia." Yuffie walked across the bridge that Cloud had blocked off a few seconds ago and the group followed her, as the group left two Shinra guards ran across the other bridge and ran into the Turtle's Paradise tavern.

"Sir!" One of the soldiers yelled as they both approached the table the three Turks were sitting at. "The reports were true, he is here on vacation, we've finally found him!" He explained, "We need the Turks for back up."

Reno sighed irritably as he finished his drink, "what a drag…" he muttered irritably as he glared at the soldiers.

"W…what was that?" The second soldier demanded as he stared at Reno.

Reno sighed again, "Right now we're off duty," Reno grumpily informed them refusing to get out of his seat nevertheless he glared daggers at the two soldiers who had disturbed him. "And we can't run off to clean up your mess every time!"

"But…" The first soldier started to speak up but Reno raised up a hand to silence him.

"If you lot had have just done your job in the first place then we wouldn't have a rogue experiment running wild," Reno informed the soldiers of their past mistakes.

"We're aware of that sir," the second soldier stated, "and we know you're off duty but…"

"Well if you knew that then stop botherin' us and get the hell outta here!" Reno snapped irritably as he grabbed his next bottle, "lookin' at your ugly mugs is makin' me sober." Reno added as he opened the bottle and took a swig out of it hoping to get drunk again.

"But you have orders to look for him too…" The second soldier tried to reason with Reno, however the Turk refused to move and he took another swig from his bottle clearly ignoring what the soldier had said. "Fine! The soldier yelled irritably as he glared at Reno, "we get the hint, we'll get him without the Turks help! You'll see!"

"Good luck with that!" Reno retorted as he raised his bottle in a mock toast to them, the soldiers scowled at Reno.

"And don't think HQ isn't gonna here about this!" The soldier who had spoken first snapped as both the soldiers stormed out of the tavern, Elena stared at Reno.

"They do have a point," Elena stated agreeing with the two soldiers, "That wasn't exactly a professional attitude."

Reno laughed when he heard that, "Elena, you're a smart woman," Reno complimented the blonde haired woman, "but you gotta understand that a pro isn't someone who sacrifices themselves for their job…only a fool does that," Reno added, "we're not all workaholics like Tseng."

"Well maybe you should take more responsibility!" Elena snapped.

"It's true though," Reno replied in a defensive tone, "even a Turk has to relax once in a while."

Elena scowled at Reno for a second before she turned to her other colleague, "Rude…" She started to ask hoping that Rude would agree with her.

"Don't ask me," was all the bald man said before he finished his beer.

"I don't believe you two!" Elena snapped as she glared at Reno and Rude, "no wonder no one relies on the Turks anymore!" Elena stood up, "well I don't care what you two say, I'm gonna capture him with or without your help!" Without another word Elena stormed out of the tavern, Reno and Rude watched the woman leave before they shrugged at each other.

"Do you think we should follow her?" Rude asked.

"Nah…" Reno replied as he leaned back in his chair, "Elena's not a child, she can make her own decisions," Reno stated as he finished his bottle. "She's stubborn and she's hot when she gets angry…damn it Reno! Pull yourself together!" Reno shook his head trying to get the thoughts of Elena out of his mind, he looked at Rude, "looks like it's your round buddy," he stated as he lifted up his empty bottle. Rude sighed as he walked over to the bar.

Meanwhile in another part of town, Yuffie had lead the group into what looked like an apartment building, the room was medium sized and was spit into two rooms by a screen, on the other side of the screen was a single futon and along the wall was a set of stairs leading to the basement. "I know, the materia right?" Yuffie asked the group continued to glare at her. "I have it stored in a safe place, follow me."

Yuffie led the group down the stairs and they entered the basement, the basement was slightly larger than the room upstairs although it was fairly damp and not very well kept. The group entered the large rectangular room and Yuffie was stood in a corner of the room.

"I've been hearing that ever since I was little, before I was even born that Wutai was a lot more crowded and important, "Yuffie started to explain a hint of sadness in her voice hoping to get a sympathy vote. "You saw what it looks like now right?" She asked the group as she moved away from the corner, "just a resort town…after we lost the war, we got peace, but with that we lost something else…" Yuffie sighed sadly. "And now look at Wutai," Yuffie moved towards the door she had her back to the group not wanting to look at them. "That's why…" she explained her reason for stealing the materia, "if I had lots of materia I could…" Yuffie buried her face in her arms and started to sniffle.

"I feel awful," Aerith stated as she cast a guilty look at Yuffie.

"Aerith, you're not serious are you?" Zack demanded as he stared at Aerith in shock.

"Just look at her Zack," Aerith replied as she pointed at the crying ninja, "she's upset, we can't be mad at her now."

"Aerith, she stole our materia," Zack reasoned with the Cetra as he pointed at Yuffie, "she was planning it from the start and now you're gonna feel sorry for her just because she tells you a sob story…well I'm not!" Zack marched up to Yuffie and grabbed hold of her. "Yuffie! We don't give a rat's ass about what happened to Wutai, we just want what's ours!"

"Cool it Zack," Cloud walked up to the drag human and pulled him off Yuffie, Yuffie backed away slightly and buried her face in her arms again. "Yuffie, look…if you tell us where our materia is…we'll drop the whole thing."

"Fuck man!" Cid yelled at Cloud, "You ain't serious!"

Cloud ignored Cid, "We just want our materia back Yuffie," Cloud reasoned with the ninja, "if you give it to us, we'll carry on like it never happened."

Yuffie nodded but she still refused to look at the group, "I…I know that…" she stammered in between sniffles, "that switch…the lever on the left…the materia…is in there…" Zack and Cloud looked to the back of the room and they saw two levers on the far wall. The two men re-entered the room, Zack walked up to the two levers.

"Are you sure it's the one on the left?" The drag human asked as he examined the two levers wondering if Yuffie had given him the right instructions. Yuffie nodded silently neither lifting her head up nor turning round to look at Zack. "Yuffie gave up so easily when we caught her…this could be a trap…"

"Will you hurry up and pull the damn lever?!" Cid demanded impatiently glaring at Zack and tapping his foot on the floor irritably. "You're just as slow as Shera!" Zack shook his head and rolled his eyes as he finally pulled the left lever.

The control panel flashed red as a mechanism activated, Zack looked to his left and he saw a rope to the side of the lever panel moving rapidly. "What the…" Zack muttered he leapt quickly to the side as a large cage fell from the ceiling trapping his friends.

"The hell is this?!" Barret yelled as he shook the bars of the cage trying to get out.

"We're trapped!" Tifa shouted as she kicked at the cage trying to break through it with little success, the group looked around them confused at what was happening.

"Ha, ha, ha!" The group heard laughter behind them, they turned round and they saw Yuffie stood at the entrance, her head was held high and she showed no signs of crying.

"So this was a trap…" Zack muttered, he was breathing deeply and seething in anger. He had balled his hands into fists and his tail arched high and menacing over his back. Yuffie nodded as her grin grew wider, "you set us up!"

"YOU BITCH!" Tifa yelled at the top of her lungs as she struggled frantically to get out of the cage, wanting to grab hold of Yuffie so badly. However the ninja just watched with an amused smile on her face.

"Never trust anyone so easily," she warned as she waggled her finger mocking at the group. "The materia's mine! Too bad!" Yuffie blew the group a mock kiss as she turned round and left the room, she was about to run up the stairs when she thought of something and turned back. "You want your materia?" She asked playfully as the group continued to glare at her.

"You know we do…" Cloud responded through gritted teeth, "now tell us where it is!"

"Hmmm…" Yuffie uttered as she pretended to think about it before she grinned again, "no."

"No…" Red growled shocked at what Yuffie had said.

"WHADDYA MEAN NO!?" Barret snapped as he shook his fist at Yuffie, "JUST YOU WAIT TILL I GET OUT OF HERE! THERE AIN'T GONNA BE SHIT LEFT BY THE TIME I'M FINISHED!" Barret threatened as Yuffie yawned.

"That's the best you can come up with…" Yuffie asked mockingly as she smirked at Barret, "come on Barret, even you can do better than that."

"Yuffie…either tell us where the materia is or I'll rip out your vocal cords…" Zack hissed menacingly as he continued to glare at Yuffie with his yellow cat like eyes and he flexed his muscles.

"You want your materia back…go find it yourself you scaly bastard!" Yuffie retorted if she was scared of Zack's threat she showed no sign of it.

Zack growled under his breath as he felt something inside him snap, he bared his teeth at Yuffie and his claws sprang out. "Uh oh…" Cloud muttered under his breath as he cast a worried look at his friend, "I think Yuffie struck a nerve…"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Zack yelled at the top of his lungs, the hairs on the back of his neck bristled, a clicking sound could be heard as the spear at the end of Zack's tail opened.

"Y…you heard me..." Yuffie answered back trying to sound confident however she couldn't help but be a little nervous at the sight of the drag human who was finding it increasingly difficult to control himself. "I'm not gonna repeat myself, just remember when you're looking for the materia, you gotta steel it!" Yuffie advised in a mocking tone as she doubled over laughing. "Heh, heh…STEEL…steel…you get it?! Ah ha…Aaaaahhhhh!" Yuffie screamed, she ducked just in time as an ice ball was launched at her and hit the wall behind where her head was and it shattered into pieces. Yuffie stood up and stared at Zack who's hands glowed blue as he created another ice ball and preparing to throw it at her. "I'm outta of here!" Yuffie yelled in a frightened tone. "C ya!" Yuffie took a few steps back before she scarpered.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE! I AIN'T EVEN FINISHED WITH YOU YET!" Zack yelled after Yuffie as he charged to the room's exit hoping to catch Yuffie but the ninja had already ran up the stairs and left the building. "Damn it!" Zack cursed as he made a fist sized hole in the wall, he turned round and started to run up the stairs.

"Zack!" Aerith called out the drag human's name causing him to stop, he leapt down the steps and ran back into the room. "You're not going to leave us in this cage are you?" Aerith asked as she gave Zack a pleading look.

"Eh he…" Zack laughed weakly as he ran a hand through his hair, "sorry about that," he apologised as he walked up to the panel and pushed the lever back up, the screen flashed from on to off and the cage rose up to the ceiling freeing Zack's captured friends.

"That's better," Tifa sighed with relief as the group stretched, "I can move again, now let's find that bitch so we can get our materia back." The group ran out of the room and back up the stairs to the main area of the building, the group left the building and found themselves outside again, Yuffie was nowhere to be seen.

"That…Yuffie…sure is…givin' us…the run around…" Barret uttered between breaths as he stood there panting. "I don't think…I can…go on…much longer…" Barret continued to complain, Tifa shook her head as she walked passed him.

"As soon as all this is over you're going on a diet," Tifa commanded as she gave Barret a no nonsense look. The man with the gun arm stared at Tifa in shock.

"A…d…diet…" He stammered hardly daring to believe what he was hearing.

"Yes a diet," Tifa repeated what she said before still giving Barret that don't argue with me look, "that way, you won't get so tired so quickly." Tifa turned round and the group carried on walking, Barret scowled at the back of Tifa's head before he reluctantly followed.

"You got burned big style!" Cid laughed at Barret as the man with the gun arm glared at the pilot.

"You ain't exactly in tip top condition either!" Barret retorted, Cid merely shrugged, he took out a cigarette and lit it. Cid was about to put the cigarette in him mouth when Aerith walked up to him snatched the cigarette out of his hand, Aerith threw it on to the ground and crushed it under her foot causing Cid to stare at her in shock.

"The hell did you do that for?!" Cid demanded as he glared at Aerith.

"I told you this was a none smoking trip," Aerith stated calmly as she twisted her foot one more time causing the cigarette to break in two. Cid continued to glare at Aerith but the Cetra ignored him.

"I'll give you a none smoking trip you pink clad bitch…" Cid muttered under his breath, whether Aerith heard the pilot's insult or not no one was sure but she chose to ignore it. The group crossed the bridge and entered the part of town where the mansion was, they turned to their left and they saw what looked like a shrine. The group walked up the steps and looked around, but all they could see was a giant gong. "This is just fuckin' ridiculous!" Cid grumbled as the group examined the gong.

"Hmmm…I wonder what would happen if we hit this gong…" Aerith mused as she continued to examine it.

"Only one way to find out," Zack answered as he grabbed Cait Sith by the neck, dragged him off the pink Mog straightened him out before the drag human pulled Cait Sith back and slammed him into the gong. The gong made a loud sound and vibrated through the ground, Zack dropped Cait Sith to the ground, the cat staggered as he struggled to stand.

"Wwwwhhhhhhhhaaaaatttt…dddddiiiiiidddddd…yyyyyyooooooooouuuuu…ddddddoooooo…tttttthhhhhhhaaaaaaaaattttt…ffffooooooorrrrrr…" Cait Sith demanded, his voice vibrated heavily as he fell to the floor. The Mog hesitated for a second before it picked Cait Sith up and held the cat in its arms until Cait Sith had recovered enough to climb back on to the Mog's back.

"There was nothing to hit the gong with," Zack answered calmly, he looked behind the gong and he saw a stick that was used to hit a gong. "Oh wait…" Zack continued as he picked up the stick, "there was something to hit the gong with…" Cait Sith glared at Zack but before the cat could say anything the group heard a loud rumbling sound, the group ran down the steps just as a door appeared in the wall of the Shrine.

"Good work Zack," Cloud complimented the drag human as he patted him on the shoulder. The group looked at the door, "let's go," Cloud commanded as he pushed the door open and walked through. The group followed and they found themselves in a dark corridor, they walk down the corridor and as they did they could hear voice coming from a room ahead of them.

""Let go! I SAID let go!" A shrill female voice that sounded familiar to the group echoed through the corridor.

"That sounds like Yuffie," Zack whispered as the group picked up speed and ran into what looked like a store room where they saw a man in a suit holding Yuffie who was kicking and screaming.

"Hey who do you think I…" Yuffie started to demand but the man hit her in the face. "OW! Yuffie cried out in pain, "What are ya doin…jerk!" Yuffie screamed as she continued to struggle against the man, but the man was too strong for her. He dragged Yuffie further into the room, the group ran after the man and stared upwards in shock as they saw a familiar face.

"You!?" Cloud yelled hardly daring to believe what he was seeing, the man on the stairs laughed evilly as he walked down the steps coming out of the shadows to reveal a blond haired man in his late 30s early 40s he was wearing a red suit and he was grinning insanely.

"Hohi…Hohi…" The man laughed again, as the group except for Red, Cait Sith, Vincent and Cid recognised the man.

"Corneo!" Zack yelled as he glared at the man stood in front of him, Zack remembered all the past dealings he had had with Corneo back in his SOLDIER days and he shuddered as renewed hatred for the man surged through his veins. Corneo stared at the drag human for a second and his eyes grew wide with shock as he took a closer look at Zack and he realised who the drag human was.

"I remember you," Corneo replied as he took another step, "you arrested me countless times…"

"What you were doing was illegal!" Zack snapped growing more repulsed by Corneo, Corneo merely grinned.

"Not that it matters," the perverted man continued, "I've got myself a new chicky!" He exclaimed excitedly, "Two for one in fact! Hohi!"

"Two…" Tifa asked looking confused, "who's the second girl?" Corneo pointed further up the stairs to show another one of his lackeys holding on to a blonde haired woman who was struggling against her captor.

"Elena…" Cloud and Zack asked at the same time as they stared at the struggling woman.

"H…Hey!" Elena yelled as she kicked and punched the man trying to escape, "let go of me! You're gonna regret this!" Elena threatened, the man holding her merely laughed and he ran through a door at the top of the steps dragging Elena with him, he was closely followed by the man who was holding Yuffie.

"Hohi…hohi…hooooohhhhiiii!" Corneo laughed in his stupid way before he ran up the steps and followed his lackeys out of the room. The group ran after Corneo and found themselves back in Godo's mansion again.

"What do ya know…" Red spoke up as the group started to walk through the hallway of the manor, "that tunnel was a shortcut to the mansion."

"Come on!" Cloud demanded urgently as the ex SOLDIER picked up speed, "we gotta find Corneo so we can get our materia back!"

"Who was that man anyway?" Vincent asked as the group ran out of the manor and back into the court yard.

"A pervert who kidnaps young girls and forces them to marry him," Zack answered, Vincent nodded as he stroked his shot gun. The group left the mansion's courtyard and found themselves back in the main town again, where they spotted two men wearing suits stood talking. "Isn't that Reno and Rude?" Zack questioned as he walked towards the Turks, the others followed him. "What's going on?" Zack asked as he approached the Turks, Reno and Rude turned round to face the group.

"Corneo has taken Elena," Rude answered in his usual taciturn manner.

"Yeah…that Corneo is good at escaping," Reno added as he gave the group a serious expression as opposed to his usual relaxed manner.

"We just saw him," Cloud stated, "he took Yuffie too, and without her there's no way we can get our materia back…"

"What do you mean?" Reno questioned curiously, Cloud with some help from the others explained everything that had happened up to that point. "I see…" Reno mused as he stroked his chin, "this changes everything…"

"What do you mean?" Zack asked as he stared at Reno with his cat like eyes, Reno merely laughed.

"If Elena and Yuffie are in Corneo's hands," Reno stated as he paced up and down, "that's just gonna make the situation even more complicated than it already is…" The group stared at Reno and the Turk laughed again, "Look…we want Elena back and you want Yuffie and your materia back, we wouldn't normally do this. But…I think it's best that we join forces for now."

"How do we know you won't betray us when you have Elena back?" Zack demanded as he gave Reno a sceptical stare.

Reno sighed, "Zack, you're on the Shinra's most wanted list, and although this comes as a complete surprise to you, you're not high up on our list of priorities right now."

"I know…Tseng kept saying…" Zack muttered rolling his eyes causing the Turk to glare at him.

"Look do we have a deal or not?" Reno asked irritably as he held his hand out for Cloud to shake. Cloud thought for a moment he looked at his team mates and back to the two Turks again. Cloud sighed, he knew that Reno was right, it was better if they joined forces for now. Cloud reached his hand up and the two men shook hands, Reno grinned, "excellent, now, we saw Corneo heading towards the Da Chao mountain," Reno informed the group as he pointed at the mountain that was towering above the town. "That would be the best place to go I think."

"Sounds like a good plan," Cloud agreed as the group accompanied by the two Turks walked through the miniature forest and back into the other part of town, they crossed the bridge and followed the trail that led to the mountain. As the group got closer to the mountain they saw statues of people carved into the stone wall.

"Hmmm…a mountain made up of statues…" Red mused as he took a close look at one of the statues as the group climbed up the trail. "I heard about this mountain, it really is fascinating."

"It's a pissin' mountain!" Cid exclaimed as he stared at the Red beast in disbelief, "a pissin' mountain with funny lookin' statues carved into it!"

"You obviously have no respect for other cultures!" Red snapped back as he glared at Cid.

"Please don't argue…" Aerith pleaded with her two friends, "we came here to save Yuffie and Elena."

"Fuck Yuffie!" Cid yelled as Barret and Vincent nodded in agreement, "we just want our damn materia back!"

Reno shook his head trying hard not to laugh, "Man, no wonder you guys don't get any work done…" Reno remarked, Cloud glared at Reno so the Turk cleared his throat. "Me and Rude will search one side of the mountain, you guys search the other," Reno changed the subject as he and Rude took one path and Cloud and the others took another path. They eventually reached a giant arm where Corneo was stood, the group saw Yuffie and Elena tied to the side of the mountain.

"Corneo!" Cloud yelled the man's name so suddenly that Corneo turned round and leapt back in surprise as he saw the group glaring at him.

"W…what…" Corneo stammered hardly daring to believe it, "wh…who goes there?"

"GUYS!" Yuffie yelled excitedly as she saw her friends, "Am I glad to see you, get me down from here!" Yuffie demanded as she struggled against her bonds.

"First we want our materia!" Zack yelled up at the ninja as he glared at her.

"I don't have it!" Yuffie stated truthfully, "but I kept it in a safe place and I'll give it you back, just please get me down!"

"Let them go Corneo!" Cloud demanded as he continued to glare at the man.

"He can have the brat!" Barret added causing the captured ninja to scowl at him but Barret ignored her glare and continued. "We just want our materia!"

"Hey!" Yuffie yelled at Barret, "I resent that!"

"You're just a pervert!" Tifa screamed at Corneo not forgetting that the man tried to make a pass at her, "and your breath reeked when you tried to kiss me!"

"Tifa…TMI!" Zack yelled in a disgusted tone as he covered his mouth.

"Shut up!" Corneo snapped as his expression became more serious, "you don't know how much I've suffered since then…" Corneo continued melodramatically as he turned away from the group, the group gave each other blank stares. "It's a long story but…" Corneo started to explain.

"Stop being so melodramatic!" Vincent snapped repulsed by the man, he stroked his shotgun again. "It's pathetic, just let Yuffie and Elena go!"

Corneo turned round to face the group again and a smile crept back on to his face, "so you guys are serious…" he spoke in his usual manner again, "good, good…" He put his arms behind his back, "I'm not kidding either, why did you kill my little Aps?" Corneo demanded as he glared at the group.

"Aps…" Zack questioned as he stared at Cloud, Tifa and Aerith.

"A sewer monster underneath the Wall Market," Aerith whispered in Zack's ear, Zack nodded to show that he understood.

"I'm gonna make you PLAY with my new pet!" Corneo continued as he grinned at the group, "So you can't get in the way of my search for a bride!" Corneo brought his hands out from behind his back to reveal a strange looking flute, it was in the shape of a dragon head and it had numerous holes in it. Corneo brought the instrument to his lips and played a strange tune on it. The group stared at Corneo wondering what he was playing, however Zack was kneeling on the floor covering his pointed ears with his hands letting out a pained roar as the notes cut through him.

"Zack are you ok?" Aerith asked as she knelt down beside Zack, her voice was filled with concern.

The tune Corneo was playing suddenly stopped and Zack was able to stagger to his feet, "I'm fine…" Zack answered confused at why he could hear that tune, "did you guys hear that?" Zack asked as he stared at his friends.

"No," Aerith answered as the group shook their heads, "we didn't hear anything."

"It could be that the frequencies and wave lengths in the flute were designed specifically for dragons," Red theorised. "It's the same principle as dog whistles." Zack was about to answer but a loud roar echoed through the whole mountain causing Zack to close his mouth again. The group looked up to the sky to see a large dragon like creature flying towards them, the group could hear the beat as the dragon flapped its powerful wings. The dragon flew towards the giant stone arm and it hovered above Corneo.

"Get them!" Corneo ordered, the dragon roared and flew towards the group with its claws outstretched, the group ducked as the dragon swooped over them. The dragon swerved in the air and turned back round again firing a jet of flames at the group, the group staggered slowly to their feet and they stared up at the dragon.

"There's no way we can get to it while it's up there…" Tifa stated as the dragon flew back down for a second attack. The dragon swooped down and fired several fireballs at the group before swooping closer to the group grabbing Aerith in its claws and flying up again.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Aerith screamed at the top of her lungs as the dragon continued to carry her upwards.

"AERITH!" Zack yelled as he looked up to see Aerith being held captive by the dragon, the dragon hovered in midair and roared triumphantly causing Zack to growl under his breath. Without thinking Zack ran to the edge of the mountain and leapt off it much to the shock and horror of his friends, a few seconds later Zack emerged over the edge of the mountain and took off after the dragon.

"I forgot he could fly…" Tifa stated as the group ran to the edge and watched the scene above them. "We should do something…"

"What can we do?" Cloud asked, "We can't attack the thing while it's in the air, the only people who can attack it from a distance are Barret and Vincent, and we can't risk it…not while that thing has Aerith."

The dragon saw Zack coming, it flapped its wings and soared higher into the air carrying its captive with it. Aerith hid her face in her hands too afraid to look down. "Shit!" Zack cursed he flapped his wings faster and chased after the dragon. Zack breathed in deeply and fired a jet of flames at the dragon, the dragon quickly swerved to the left avoiding Zack's attack. Zack breathed fire at the dragon again but it swerved to the right before turning its head round launching a fire attack of its own. Zack quickly swerved left and right to dodge the attacks, the drag human performed a loop de loop in midair forming fireballs in his hands and throwing them at the dragon. The dragon swerved this way and that, even Aerith had to dodge as some of the fireballs narrowly missed her.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING!" Aerith screamed at the top of her lungs as she dodged the fifth fireball.

"Damn!" Zack thought to himself as he tried to form a plan, "If I just keep throwing fireballs in all directions I'm gonna end up hitting Aerith…I need to get closer." Zack flapped his wings again to increase his speed, the dragon sent fireballs flying at Zack but the drag human dodged them easily. Zack lunged at the dragon his clawed hands outstretched, the dragon tried to snap at Zack with its jaws but Zack was too quick for it, he quickly flew upwards and landed on the dragon's back digging his claws deep into the dragon's flesh.

The dragon roared in pain as it shook itself trying to get Zack off it but the drag human refused to let go, Zack shifted his body weight slightly slowly pulling the dragon to the ground. Zack moved slowly along the dragon's back to its underbelly, Zack climbed on to the claws that had Aerith in and he saw the Cetra struggling to get the claws to loosen their grip but they were too strong. "Zack, get me out of here!" Aerith yelled desperately Zack thought for a moment before prying Aerith out of its claws Aerith climbed onto Zack's back as the drag human clawed his way up to the dragon's back.

"I hope you're not squeamish!" Zack yelled to Aerith as clawed along the dragon's back towards its left wing, the dragon roared in pain and flapped its wings faster in panic.

"What are you…" Aerith was about to ask but she flinched as she heard a ripping sound followed by a pained screech. Aerith opened her eyes to see that the dragon's left wing had been ripped cleanly off the dragon's body, Zack grinned as he looked at the severed wing before he threw it away. Zack and Aerith flinched as they felt the dragon lose altitude. The dragon flapped its remaining wing frantically trying to stay up, the group saw this scene from the mountain.

"They're gonna crash!" Tifa yelled as she covered her eyes not even daring to look.

"What the hell did Zack think he was doing?!" Cloud demanded as he stared in shock as the dragon continued to lose control. Vincent grinned as he watched, "Vincent…why are you grinning?" Vincent pointed upwards at the scene above.

Tifa lowered her arms and stared at Vincent who was still grinning, "How can you enjoy seeing that?!" The dark haired woman asked as she pointed up at the violence above.

Vincent shrugged, "I've seen enough violence to last me a lifetime," Vincent answered calmly, "It has no affect on me."

Tifa sighed as she looked back up at the severely wounded dragon, "I hope Zack and Aerith will get out of this ok…" Tifa thought to herself concerned for her two friends.

Meanwhile back in the sky the dragon roared in pain as its remaining wing was torn off by Zack, Zack (while carrying Aerith on his back) leapt off the dragon's back and opened his wings quickly as the dragon fell towards the earth. Vincent and Barret saw their chance and riddled the beast's body with bullets as it plummeted to the ground below. A ball of energy formed in the barrel of Barret's gun, Barret released the powerful energy beam which exploded as it struck the dragon critically wounding it. The group felt the mountain they were stood on tremble as the dragon crashed into the side of the mountain and slid down the mountain side and landed with a thud on the giant arm behind the group.

Vincent walked calmly up to the now wingless and severely wounded dragon, Vincent took the shotgun out of its holster and he pointed it at the dragon's face so that the tip of the barrel was touching the dragon's nose. Vincent pulled the trigger and the shotgun fired with a loud bang blowing the dragon's head cleanly off blood splattered on the mountain side and on to Vincent's clothing, the group stared at Vincent in shock. The dark haired man turned round and shrugged, "I was just making sure…" He answered calmly as he spun the shotgun round once and put it back into its holster just as Zack landed back on the mountain carrying Aerith.

"Are you ok?" Zack asked as Aerith slid off Zack's back and back on to solid ground.

"I'm fine," Aerith replied as she nodded her head and smiled at Zack, "I'm just glad to be back on solid ground again."

"The dragon didn't hurt you did it?" Zack questioned as he started to check Aerith over for wounds.

"No," Aerith answered, she wrapped her arms round Zack and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me though," she replied gratefully, "I really thought I was gonna die."

"You're welcome," Zack stated as he smiled at Aerith, "And I'd never let that happen, I'd rather die myself than let you die."

"Errr…guys…" Cloud cut in causing Zack and Aerith to break apart, "we've still gotta deal with Corneo…" Cloud stated reminding them of what they were on the mountain to do.

"Oh yeah…" Zack replied as he grinned evilly at Corneo and cracked his knuckles, "we've still got some unfinished business to take care of." The group advanced towards Corneo preparing to kill him, Corneo took a few steps back towards the edge of the mountain.

"W…wait…" Corneo stammered as he stared in shock at the group, "just wait a second…"

"SHUT UP!" Cloud snapped at Corneo as he pointed his sword at the man.

"Just hear me out…" Corneo continued trying to buy himself some more time, "this won't take long…why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life?" Corneo asked as he got down on his knees and buried his head in his arms.

"Gee…that's a trick question…" Zack muttered sarcastically, "maybe it's because you thought you'd win so badly…"

Corneo lifted his head up and grinned, "I can see you're not as dumb as you look," Corneo remarked as he stood up, "I guess I have no other choice…" Corneo's grin grew wider as he pushed a button on his belt, this caused Elena and Yuffie to rotate upside down.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Elena screamed as she looked down at the ground below her.

"YOU MAKE ME SICK!" Yuffie yelled at Corneo as she struggled frantically against her bonds.

"Take another step and all I have to do is push this other button on my belt, and we'll have squashed tomatoes! Hohi, hohi!" Corneo threatened as he pointed to a red button next to the one he had just pressed.

"Shit!" Cid cursed loudly.

"You're the lowest!" Aerith screamed at Corneo.

"So you're sick as well as perverted!" Zack shouted.

Corneo laughed manically as he brushed off the insults that were being thrown at him, "I guess I'm the one having the last laugh!"

"I don't think so!" A male voice yelled as Reno walked along the giant arm towards Corneo.

"What the…" Corneo yelled in shock as he staggered backwards and almost lost his balance, Corneo stared at Reno in shock. "The Turks…"

"You should've known this was gonna happen ever since you leaked out that secret," Reno warned as he pushed a long red strand of hair out of his face. The group stared at Reno, the Turk grinned for a second before his expression went all serious. "Now…we're going to take care of you…personally," Reno threatened as he cracked his knuckles.

Corneo gulped nervously as Rude came running up the opposite side of the mountain and threw a small round device at Corneo. The device landed on the ground next to him and exploded causing Corneo to completely lose his balance and fall off the cliff, Corneo reached out frantically and grabbed the edge of the cliff. Reno turned to look at Rude. "Perfect timing Rude, as usual," Reno complimented his comrade as Rude gave him a thumbs up sign and the bald Turk ran further up the cliff and made his way towards the rest of the group. Reno then walked right up to the edge of the cliff and put his foot on to Corneo's hand.

"Alright Corneo, this will be over in a second, why do you think we went through the trouble of teaming up with these guys just to get you?" Reno asked as he gestured towards Cloud and the others.

"Errr…because you guys were sure you'd win…" Corneo tried to answer.

Reno shook his head, "sorry, wrong answer," the Turk replied mockingly as he removed his foot and kicked Corneo's hands causing them to lose their grip.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Corneo yelled as he fell off the cliff and plummeted to the ground below with a loud thud.

"The correct answer was…"Reno started.

"…Because it's our job…" Rude finished Reno's sentence as he walked along the giant arm towards his friend.

"Oh…I knew you guys would come!" Elena yelled excitedly as she struggled against the metal straps pinning her to the side of the mountain. "Hurry up and get us down!"

Reno sighed as he shook his head, "Elena! You're a bloody Turk!" Reno yelled at Elena in a frustrated manner. "Don't act so weak!"

"Y…yes sir…" Elena stammered but she calmed down.

Reno's mobile phone rung, Reno reached into his pocket and grabbed his mobile. He pushed the button on the mobile and answered it. "Reno here…yeah…ok…I'll get right on it…" Reno stated before hanging up on the phone.

"Was that HQ?" Rude asked as Reno put his phone back in his pocket.

"Yeah," Reno answered nodding his head, "they want us to find Cloud," Reno informed Rude as the two Turks looked over at Cloud and the others who got into fighting stances.

"I guess this means it's time for round 3…" Zack stated with a sigh.

Reno shook his head, "Nah…today we're off duty…we're gonna let you guys go this once," Reno stated as the group started to relax. "But that's only a one off, next time we meet…we won't be so lenient."

"HEY!" Yuffie yelled at the top of her lungs causing everyone to look up at them, "ARE YOU GONNA GET US DOWN FROM OR WHAT?!"

The group then turned towards Zack, "Zack could you…" Aerith started to ask as she pointed towards Yuffie and Elena.

"What…why me?" Zack demanded as he glared at his friends.

"Well you're the best damn climber we've got," Barret answered as he pointed at Zack's hands, "so get your spiky ass up there!"

Zack looked from one person to the next and they all had the same pleading expressions on their faces. "Aaaaahhh…" Zack moaned in frustration as he walked towards the cliff wall his claws sprang out of his fingers. "Fine…I'll start climbing…" Zack gave in as he started to climb up the wall, he reached Elena and Yuffie, he ripped the metal straps holding Elena down from the wall causing the blonde haired Turk to fall towards the ground. Reno ran towards the cliff wall his arms outstretched and he caught Elena.

"Thanks Reno," Elena replied gratefully, Reno merely smiled as he eased Elena to the ground. "It's so good to be the right way up again."

Zack moved towards Yuffie and pulled her straps off the wall, Yuffie fell towards the ground and landed in Vincent's arms. Yuffie opened her eyes and saw that she was safe, "oh Vincent you saved me from falling to my death!" Yuffie sobbed hysterically as she wrapped her arms round Vincent's neck and buried her face in his shoulders, Vincent just stared at her too shocked to speak. "How can I ever thank you?"

Vincent moved his hands from under Yuffie causing her to fall to the ground and land on her back side, Yuffie rubbed her ass as she staggered to her feet, Vincent glared at her with his red eyes. "For starters don't ever hug me again…" Vincent muttered under his breath not taking his eyes off Yuffie, "it sickens me…"

"Ok…" Yuffie agreed, "Just stop glaring at me…" She pleaded as she took a few steps away from Vincent, the dark haired man sighed and he turned away from Yuffie.

"Well, our work here is done," Reno stated as he became aware of the tension between Yuffie and Vincent. The Turks started to walk off, but Reno stopped and turned round to face the group. "You guys had better keep training," Reno added as an after thought, "I'd hate for you to get sloppy." Reno grinned before the Turks walked away and started to leave the mountain.

Once the Turks had gone everyone turned their attention back to Yuffie, "Let me guess, the materia right?" Yuffie asked as the group nodded, "ok, follow me." Yuffie led them down the mountain and an hour later they were back in Yuffie's house again, Yuffie walked up to the wall of the bedroom and takes down a painting of Wutai off the wall to reveal a secret compartment. Yuffie reached into the compartment and pulled out Aerith's materia pouch and gave it back to Aerith. Aerith opened the pouch and looked through it, "what are you doing?" Yuffie asked as she watched Aerith search through the pouch.

"Just making sure all the materia is there," Aerith answered as she pulled her hands out of the pouch and closed it. "And nothing's missing, that's good," Aerith added as tied the materia pouch tightly round her waist.

"So I guess this means we can continue with our journey then…" Yuffie stated as she stared hopefully at the group.

"You're kidding right…" Zack demanded as he glared at Yuffie.

"Oh come on…" Yuffie pleaded.

"Cloud, if we go soft on her now she's just gonna steal our materia again!" Zack yelled as he pointed an accusing finger at Yuffie, the ninja scowled at Zack and placed her hands on her hips before turning her attention to Cloud.

"I won't steal, the materia I promise, just please let me come with you!" Yuffie begged as she got down on her knees and crawled up to Cloud grabbing hold of his leg.

Cloud sighed, he lifted his foot up and shook it causing Yuffie to lose her grip. "Fine…" Cloud gave in, "one more chance."

Yuffie smiled as she leapt to her feet, "oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yuffie yelled excitedly as she wrapped her arms tightly round Cloud's neck, Zack, Barret, Cid and Red smirked when they saw this.

"Yuffie…can't breathe…" Cloud choked as Yuffie quickly let go of him, Cloud coughed for a little while until he got his breath back. "If you pull another stunt like that again then you're off the team, you understand?" Cloud questioned as Yuffie nodded.

"I understand," Yuffie answered, "and you won't regret it."

"I hope not…" Cloud muttered as he gave Yuffie a suspicious stare before turning back to the others, "let's go," he commanded and one by one the group left the house, Zack approached Cloud and glared at him before he left.

"Cloud, are you nuts…" Zack demanded as he grabbed Cloud by the shoulders and shook him, "you're giving her another chance after everything she's done…"

"Everyone deserves a second chance Zack," Cloud responded calmly as he pulled himself out of Zack's grip.

"But…she could steal from us again…" Zack protested.

"Then I'll deal with her if she does," Cloud replied as Zack gave him a sceptical stare. "Trust me on this Zack."

"Oh I do trust you," Zack stated, "it's miss I have to steal every materia I see that I don't trust."

Cloud laughed at the expression on Zack's face, "Come on," he changed the subject, "let's go find the others." Cloud and Zack left the house to find that it was now evening, the sun had set and everywhere was closing for the night. They walked down the steps to see everyone waiting for them.

"We went over to the inn to get a couple of rooms, "Tifa informed the two men as they approached the group. "But they're fully booked."

"Hey I got an idea," Yuffie spoke up, "we could stay at my dad's place."

"You sure he won't mind?" Aerith asked as Yuffie shook her head.

"He won't mind," the ninja answered as she started to cross the bridge over the stream, she stopped and turned to see that everyone else hadn't followed her. "Come on!" She called out to them, "or don't you guys trust me?"

"I gotta admit, this is the first bloody good idea you've had all day!" Cid yelled to Yuffie as he followed her across the bridge. "Let's go!" The rest of the group crossed the bridge and they followed the Yuffie to Godo's mansion, when they reached the extravagant porch Yuffie held out a hand to stop them.

"Wait here," Yuffie instructed them as she walked up the steps and pushed the giant doors open and entered the mansion. The group crept up to the steps and Zack and Cloud put their ears close to the door to listen in.

"Come on dad, they really need a place to stay!" The group heard Yuffie pleading with her father wondering if Godo would cave in and let them stay for the night, given his performance when they were in the mansion earlier that day it seemed highly unlikely. "The inn's fully booked and it'll only be for the night."

"But you're friends are…" Godo started to protest but Yuffie was hearing none of it.

"Don't even say it!" Yuffie snapped at her father as she folded her arms and stamped her foot in frustration, "don't you dare say that they're affiliated with the Shinra cos they're not! If it wasn't for those guys my blood and guts would be splattered all over the Da Chao Mountain!"

"That's nice…" Zack muttered under his breath.

"Sssshhhhh…" Cloud uttered as he placed a finger on his lips and pointed to the door, "Let's just listen to what they have to say." For a while there was silence in the mansion neither Godo nor Yuffie were saying a word, rather Yuffie stared deep into her father's eyes refusing to back down. Godo seemed to be thinking about what to say but he was at a loss for words, this was the second time that day that his own daughter had stood up to him, in the end Godo sighed.

"Alright…" He gave in as Yuffie smiled, "your friends can stay here."

"Thanks dad!" Yuffie squealed as she ran up to Godo and hugged him tightly, "you're the best!"

"But for tonight only," Godo stated sternly as Yuffie released him, "When morning comes I want them gone."

"Don't worry dad," Yuffie reassured Godo as she walked back towards the front door and grabbed hold of the door handle, "a night is all we need, we'll be setting off again in the morning." Yuffie twisted the door handle causing Cloud and Zack to come away from the door they leaned against two pillars trying to look innocent as Yuffie opened the door and stepped out. "My dad said it was ok for you guys to stay, but he said we can only stay for the night."

"That's ok," Cloud stated as he pushed himself off the pillar, "one night is all we need right?" He asked as he smirked slyly at Yuffie.

"Eh he…" Yuffie laughed weakly, "you guys heard…"

"To be honest it was hard not to," Tifa answered as she stretched and yawned, "well let's get inside and sleep," Tifa suggested as she walked up to Yuffie, "it's been a long day."

"Yeah," Yuffie agreed as she stepped into the mansion and held the door open, "come on, I'll show you guys to your rooms." One by one the group started to enter the mansion and only Zack and Vincent were left outside.

"You're not thinking of turning in already are you?" Vincent asked, Zack was about to walk into the mansion but he stopped and turned round to look at Vincent.

"Well it has been a long day," Zack repeated what Tifa had said earlier, "and I did have a one on one fight with a giant dragon," Zack added as he ruffled his spiky hair.

Vincent chuckled, "I know," the raven haired man stated as a smile crept across his face. "I enjoyed watching you tear its wings off."

"I don't know who's more sick right now," Zack responded as he stared at Vincent, "Corneo for being a pervert or you for loving violence."

Vincent's grin grew wider, "so…are you up for another training session?" Vincent asked not taking his eyes off the drag human.

"Sure why not…" Zack replied as he moved away from the door and leapt from the top step to the ground landing perfectly on both feet. "You know me, I'm always up for a challenge."

"Good," Vincent stated as he started to walk away from the mansion, Zack followed, "because what I'm going to teach you next isn't easy." Vincent and Zack entered the main part of town and crossed the bridge to the Da Chao Mountain. The two men climbed the mountain trail and they eventually reached the very top of the mountain.

"Wow!" Zack exclaimed as he looked down at the brightly lit town below, "I can see the whole of Wutai from up here." Zack then looked up at the night sky and saw the moon glowing brightly and the stars flickering as if someone had just lit candles in the sky. "Looks like it's a full moon tonight," Zack commented as he turned round and smirked at Vincent, "I hope you're not a werewolf Vincent," Zack joked causing Vincent to scowl at him.

"Zack try to stay focused!" Vincent snapped at Zack as he walked away from the edge of the mountain, "We're here to train, not to sight see."

"Sorry," Zack apologised as he moved away from the edge and stood in front of Vincent focused and ready to train. "So what are you gonna teach me next?" Zack asked curiously as Vincent's scowl turned into a grin.

"All will be revealed Zack," Vincent answered as he tapped the side of his nose and walked away from Zack. "But first I want to recap on everything we did in the last training session. I want to see if you managed to remember everything you have learned."

"Ok…" Zack replied as he gave Vincent a confused stare, "what do you want me to do first?"

Vincent grinned as he looked over his shoulder at Zack, his red eyes flashed for a second. "Surprise me," was all Vincent said before a purple aura surrounded him and he changed into his Galian Beast form. Vincent turned round and got into a fighting stance, Zack did the same.

The beast and the drag human paced round each other before they charged at each other, Vincent pulled his clawed hands close to his chest as he formed a fireball in his hands and thrust it towards Zack. Zack however was ready for the attack and he quickly leapt to the side before launching two fireballs of his own at Vincent. Zack and Vincent charged at each other again a metallic clang echoed throughout the entire land as claws clashed with talons. The drag human and the beast kicked, punched, scratched and wrestled each other, each dealing powerful blows which could knock out or even kill normal opponents but Zack and Vincent's main aim wasn't to kill, not to mention that hard as they tried neither could get an effective blow in. Zack moved with much more speed and confidence than he did in the last training session and he used all the different techniques that he had learned to his advantage even catching Vincent off guard on a couple of occasions.

After two hours of fighting, Vincent (who had reverted to his normal form) and Zack were kneeling on the ground panting. After a while Vincent staggered to his feet, "not bad," Vincent commented as he held a hand out and helped Zack to his feet. "It would seem that the last training session wasn't a waste of time, now," Vincent lead Zack near the edge of the mountain. "What I'm going to teach you now requires a lot of mental discipline and concentration, there's a high chance you won't get it right first time. Are you sure you're up to it?" Vincent asked as Zack nodded, "Ok," Vincent continued, "now sit down and close your eyes."

"Like this?" Zack asked as he sat down on the ground with his eyes closed and his legs crossed.

"That's right," Vincent answered as he nodded his head, "now concentrate," Vincent instructed Zack, "visualise your human form, let its image fill your mind. Push all other thoughts out of your mind and focus."

Zack focused all his energy into visualising his human form, but he had been in drag human for so long now that Zack had almost forgotten what his human self looked like. Nevertheless he focused with all his might, Vincent stared as he saw Zack's skin change from purple to near flesh coloured. Unfortunately it only lasted for a few seconds and his skin changed back to purple. "Did it work?" Zack asked after a while and he opened his eyes and stood up excitedly to examine himself, but his excitement soon turned to disappointment when he saw that he was still in drag human form.

"You were close though," Vincent told Zack trying to sound encouraging but the drag human wasn't consoled.

"You're just saying that…" Zack replied dejectedly as he walked over to the edge of the mountain and sat down looking down at his purple hands.

"I wasn't just saying that," Vincent stated as he sat down next to Zack, "your skin went flesh coloured for a few seconds."

Zack snorted when he heard that, "That's not much is it?" He asked not even looking at Vincent.

"For a first try it is," Vincent stated again trying to be reassuring, "you did better than me, I couldn't even change my skin back to normal on my first attempt."

"Really…" Zack asked, finally looking up at Vincent.

"Really," Vincent answered truthfully, "to be able to change your skin colour on the first try is impressive. Like I said before, it takes a lot of mental concentration and practice. Hmmm…" Vincent thought for a while.

"What?" Zack questioned as he stared at Vincent.

"I was just thinking," Vincent answered as he looked back at Zack. "That maybe getting you to visualise your human form isn't enough at the moment, tell me, what do you cherish most?"

"That's easy," Zack replied as he looked up at the sky and memories of all the times he spent with Aerith, all the tender moments they had together. He remembered how he and Aerith first met and a smile crept across the drag human's face, how he missed those days when his life was a lot simpler and he didn't look like a monster. "Aerith…" Zack answered.

"I see…" Vincent uttered as he too looked up at the sky and thought about past memories, "I guess that's something else we have in common."

Zack turned his head round to stare at Vincent, "what do you mean?" He asked, intrigued by the man's last remark.

"I too met and fell in love with a beautiful woman," Vincent answered a hint of sadness in his voice.

"So what happened?" Zack questioned.

"She fell in love with someone else," Vincent replied he was looking away from Zack now, he could feel the tears burning in his eyes but he fought them back. "Lucrecia…" Vincent muttered the woman's name under his breath. "Why did you have to go through with it? Why did you have to break my heart?"

"You still love her don't you?" Zack asked Vincent, the dark man turned back round to face Zack.

"Yes," Vincent answered, "I suppose you can say I do." Zack snorted under his breath causing Vincent to glare at him. "What's so funny?" Vincent demanded.

"Poor Yuffie…" Zack answered trying hard to stifle his laughter, "what's she gonna think when she finds out you have the hots for another woman."

"I don't care for Yuffie or what she thinks," Vincent responded trying to remain as calm as possible but his blood red eyes still glared daggers at Zack.

"Is that why you saved Yuffie from falling to her death?" Zack questioned playfully as he gave Vincent a friendly dig in the arm.

"Well I…" Vincent stammered trying to think of an excuse, Zack grinned at Vincent he knew that he had got Vincent on the ropes. "Anyway…" Vincent quickly changed the subject, "do you still love Aerith?"

"More than anything," Zack replied as he leaned back and looked up at the stars. "Aerith's my whole world, when I went missing for five years, it was the thought of Aerith, the thought of seeing her again that kept me going." Zack explained his reasons for surviving everything that he survived through over the years, "and when I escaped from the Shinra building looking like this," he pointed to himself. "Again it was the thought of seeing Aerith again that kept me sane."

"Then use those thoughts to help you revert back to your human form," Vincent stated as Zack nodded. "Do you want to try again, or do you want to call it quits for tonight?" Vincent asked.

"I'm feeling a little tired," Zack answered as he let out a loud yawn. "I think I'll call it a night."

"Ok," Vincent replied nodding in agreement, "let's head back." Vincent and Zack stood up and were about to walk back down the trail into town, but Vincent stopped and he turned to face Zack. "Listen Zack, everything I said…I'd rather no one else knew about it, could you keep it quiet?" Vincent requested as Zack folded his arms and grinned smugly at Vincent.

"Don't worry," Zack reassured Vincent while trying hard not to laugh. "I won't tell our friends that you have the hots for Yuffie."

"I…" Vincent stuttered as Zack laughed at him, "that's not funny!" Vincent snapped at Zack who continued to laugh.

"Relax Vincent I was just kidding," Zack stated as Vincent continued to glare at Zack. "But seriously though, if you didn't care about Yuffie why did you save her?" Zack questioned, Vincent just shook his head and he started to walk off down the mountain trail. "Awww come on!" Zack called after Vincent as he ran to keep up with him, "it's a straight forward question…" Zack and Vincent walked down the mountain trail and they entered Wutai, they walked over two of the bridges and they soon entered the mansion's courtyard.

"Are you sure you're not gonna come in?" Zack asked as he stood at the door to the mansion, "It's a lot warmer inside."

"Thanks, but I'll be fine out here," Vincent replied, "You should get some sleep," Vincent advised as Zack yawned again.

"Yeah you're right," Zack agreed, "night Vincent."

"Night Zack," Vincent bade the drag human good night, Zack smiled at Vincent before he opened the door and entered the mansion. The entrance hall was dimly lit, but Zack was able to navigate through the corridors. He climbed the stairs and turned left, he walked down the corridor and as he passed one of the rooms he could hear soft muttering in the room on the other side. Zack pushed the door open and he crept into the room to see Aerith lying on a futon fast asleep, Zack crept quietly up to Aerith and knelt down beside her.

"I love you Aerith," He whispered in the Cetra's ear as he stroked her chestnut brown hair and smiled down at her. "You're my reason for living," he continued to whisper in Aerith's ear. "If anything ever happened to you…my life wouldn't be worth living." Zack kissed Aerith's forehead causing her to smile in her sleep, Zack smiled again as he stood up and crept slowly out of the room and closed the door gently behind him. He then walked further down the corridor until he came to another room, he pushed the door open and he saw that the room was empty. "I guess this is my room," Zack muttered sleepily as he walked over to the futon on the other side of the room, without bothering to remove his boots Zack lay down on the futon and he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"Zack…" A female voice whispered in the drag human's ear the next morning.

"Uhhhhh…" Zack moaned in his sleep as his arms flailed in all directions trying to get the person disturbing him to go away. "Just five more minutes mum…"

"Zack, wake up!" The female voice yelled as Zack felt something shake him.

"Whoa!" Zack yelled as he sat up suddenly his eyes fluttering open and his claws sprang out of the slits in his fingers. "I'm awake!" Zack shouted as he searched frantically for the person who woke him up, Zack could hear laughing next to him, he turned to his left to see Aerith standing over him smiling.

"Morning sleepy head," she greeted cheerfully as Zack rubbed his eyes trying to focus.

"Aerith…" Zack mumbled still half asleep but he started to relax, "you almost gave me a heart attack."

Aerith giggled again, "sorry about that," Aerith apologised, "but I had to get you up somehow, everyone else is downstairs waiting."

"Oh…why didn't you say so?" Zack asked as he slowly staggered to his feet, "don't want to keep them waiting any longer." Zack and Aerith left the room and ran down the corridor.

"Did you come into my room last night?" Aerith asked, her tone wasn't accusary.

"Yeah," Zack answered as they approached the stairs, "why do you ask?"

"I heard someone talking in my ear," Aerith replied as she and Zack walked slowly down the stairs. "It sounded like your voice."

Zack ran his hand through his hair, "I just wanted you to know how much I loved you," he answered as Aerith smiled at him.

"You're so sweet Zack," Aerith stated as she kissed him on the lips. Zack smiled as he and Aerith jumped off the last step and entered the entrance hall where everyone was waiting.

"'bout time you showed up!" Barret yelled impatiently as Zack and Aerith joined the group.

"You guys missed breakfast," Tifa added as she finished putting all the breakfast things away.

"We'd have saved you some but a certain greedy bastard," Cid pointed at Barret as he said this causing the man with the gun arm to scowl at the pilot. "Ate mostly everything."

"Hey! Barret yelled as he pointed his gun arm at Cid, "I ain't a greedy bastard and you had more than your fair share."

"It's alright," Zack cut in before Cid had a chance to think of a comeback, "I can last a while without eating, and as much as I enjoy watching you two have a domestic, I think it's time we got going, we wasted enough time as it is."

"Hey I'm in charge here!" Cloud snapped as he glared at Zack, "Let's get going," Cloud commanded as he made his way to the door. "We've wasted enough time here."

"That's what I said!" Zack argued as Cloud opened the door and the group walked out of it, "you were just repeating what I said!"

"Guys don't start an 'I make a better leader than you argument''," Tifa spoke up, "let's just get going."

"He still repeated what I said though," Zack muttered as the group left the mansion courtyard.

"Change the record Zack!" Cloud yelled at the drag human, Zack sighed irritably but he fell silent. The group walked through Wutai and left the town, they slowly made their way back to the Tiny Bronco and after a couple of hours the group were back on the plane again.

"Where to now?" Yuffie asked as she stared at Cid who was sat in the pilot seat looking at a map.

"Hold ya horses!" Cid snapped at Yuffie as he kept turning the map round and looking at it from different angles. "I just need to figure out where we're going!"

"Hey, there's a weapon seller not too far away from Gongaga," Zack spoke up as he stood up and walked towards the pilot seat where Cid was sitting. "He's an old friend of mine, he knows all about myths and legends, maybe he could give us information about the Temple of the Ancients." Zack suggested as Cloud nodded his head.

"Well, that's the best idea we've got so far," Cloud stated, "Cid, can you find it on the map?" Cloud asked the pilot.

"Hold on!" Cid snapped as he fumbled with the map, "you said it was near Gongaga right?" Cid questioned as Zack nodded, "Gongaga should be further west."

"Errr…Cid…" Red started to say.

"What?!" Cid demanded as he looked over the map at the beast.

"You had the map the wrong way round," Red commented as he nudged the map with his nose.

Cid looked down at the map, "oh…" Cid uttered in realisation as he fumbled with the map again and turned it the right way round. "I meant that Gongaga was further east…Alright!" Cid shouted as he hit the ignition switch and the Tiny Bronco hummed to life. "Hold on tight, I'll get us there in no time." Everyone held on to whatever was available as the Tiny Bronco reversed from the beach, Cid tilted the controls causing the plane to do a u turn as it headed back to the Western Continent mainland and leading them closer to the answers they sought.


Finally I completed the chapter, sorry it took so long but I'm back at uni now and I have a lot of work to do so I won't be able to post chapters as often as I did before. Don't worry, I'm still typing them up. Chapter 12 will be coming soon, just a reminder that I don't own Final Fantasy VII or it characters and content, they belong to Square Enix.