A/N: Sorry, but looking at the few reviews (sob, sob!) from Odyssey Blade it came to light that I took way too long on it. So as an apology I've been working doubly hard to crank this one out.

Chapter 11:

Fire. Oh Farore the fires. His skin was aflame, the invisible flames licking against it in dark anticipation for its meal. It would eat him alive if it could, but was happy waiting until he was dead.

"Kronde, terst kronde," /Fires, the fires/ Link moaned, hands slashing out in an attempt to bat the greedy flames away. Sweat trickled over his body, a thin layer of moist protection, but they burnt worse than the fires themselves.

The heat was intolerable, and with a hazed scream he jumped up, distant eyes hunting for the red glow that showed his torment. Mouth opening in a tired snarl he lurched forth, trying to smother the flames with the blanket he dropped.

As soon as he moved someone pushed him down, delicate arms firmly wrapping around his waist and with small effort brought him back to the ground. The touch felt like whips from Hell, blazing scourges using their lava scars to rage marks against his flesh, his soul. Desperately he swung around, trying to push the person off.

If he was in any other state, he would have had the strength needed to remove the grip. At present though any motion resulted in a pain of great magnitude, muscles screaming in burning anguish. That pain was a smaller torment than the ones of the fires, but it was strong enough to rob total strength away from a man who could slay armies.

The hands placed themselves on Link's cheeks, forcing his head to look up. His struggle had not the power to resist, and his glazed his focussed to see the person clearly. Mouth twitched, ready to bare his teeth in a savage attempt to free himself.

What stared back were green eyes, filled with worry, with pain, with fear. Framed by a swathe of green hair they silently begged Link to rest, to conserve his strength. Link knew those eyes. Link knew them. Saria.

His face collapsed from a wild animal's rage into a tired man's sorrow, dropping his head against Saria's shoulder for support. This time, her touch did not burn, but cool. "Saria… terst kronde, maisain tlei vrox…" /Saria… the fires, take them away…/ Link cried pitifully, one hand feebly pointing to the direction of the heat. It completed a revolution, for the heat was everywhere, for everything burned.

Gently she lowered him onto his back, pouring a trickle of water over his face and the rest into his mouth. His jaws worked furiously, trying to get the cooling liquid in, and suddenly he remembered he was tired, so very tired…

"Terst mroizrin ce'es," /It is the fever/ Saria whispered soothingly, helping Link swallow the rest of his drink. "Stei sri ester." /Get some rest./ She stood up, picking the blanket he tossed on their supplies and slowly folded it. The fever was worrying: sometimes it would pitch him in great chills, body racked with shivers as he called for warmth; the other times it would set life ablaze, incinerating his soul with its cruel grasp.

Magic as a Forest Sage did little if there was no wildlife nearby. They had landed on a moon, and what magic she could summon from the nearby Planet was used in keeping an air pocket for Link going.

The fairy ocarina was her only tie with nature now. With a pained look she stared at the remnant of her memories of Hyrule, of the Kokiri Forest and Great Deku Tree, of the fun in the Forest Meadow and the friends both Kokiri and not. This meagre whittling of wood, the magic protecting it from decay slowly ebbing away, was the only thing she had of home.

With a heavy heart, she played. This song she dedicated to her memories, to her home, to her fairies, to Link. In it she poured her every emotion, the tears that dried up flowing in the music, the screams she will not cry echoing in its meaning.

Protesting weakly to the heat, Link finally fell asleep.

-S-

Stone should have stayed as stone. Bulges of heated rock would bloom outside the Gate's walls, collecting into itself before launching free like a lightning punch delivered by the most expert of boxers.

That wouldn't have been too bad – after all, the group had fought faster opponents before, and Link himself was no stranger to enemies that struck before you saw the attack coming. What made its assaults lethal was the sheer volume of them, morbid mushrooms growing off the barren wastes of stone and venting their distaste with violent surges. The fact that dodging one strike meant needing to dodge the next and the initial one's bounce grinded any forms of offence into maintaining a sturdy defence.

Yuffie had called up the spell so reminiscent to Nayru's Love, summoning the protective Barrier to shield herself from the multitude of blows that hammered heavily against the ethereal shield. Cloud was hiding behind his sword, using it to deflect the incoming hits away. Rapid cracks signalled Barret's motto of a good defence being a better offence, his machine gun spraying walls of bullets that splintered and shattered the projectile stones. Aeris had managed to erect another barrier to shield everyone else, but a specialised barrage of amorphous rock concentrated on one spot managed to pierce through, delivering a hard clap to her head. Tifa was busy dragging Aeris behind Cloud's form and getting her healing Materia to start.

Flicking his sword in a stylised 'z', Link managed to successfully block four hits aimed at him. His arm was still ringing from the impacts, but that did not hamper his motion of flicking the blade like a fan, and skipping upwards.

There were only three people not stuck in total defence: Vincent, Cait Sith and himself. Using his right hand to brace his left, Link had to change that list – Vincent's gun jammed, and he had to duck for cover to repair. Cait Sith had the fortunate ability to hide behind the giant moogle, its plush body taking less damage by the bludgeons than it would have with a more solid constitution. Link was slowly edging closer towards the wall face, but it seemed that more were aimed his way.

Suddenly the barrage stopped, the only sounds being Barret's shells clattering to the ground. Startled, Link looked at the face, and was surprised to see it looking back.

'Why do you fight? This is not your place,' the mouth moved slowly, the words blaring like the words of giants in Link's mind. Beneath its chin another bulb grew, but as it enlarged fractures appeared over its surface.

"I fight because I have to get out. We can't live in here, you know," Link replied, warily watching the inflating ball expand. The others took the time to scramble up their defences, Vincent throwing out one cartridge and replacing it with another. For some inexplicable reason Cait Sith was rolling the raffles.

The stone eyes surveyed the group, eyes pausing on Aeris momentarily before moving on. 'You will survive, as does the Cetra child. The rest will die.' A loud snap shook the room as a fissure developed, its gaping maw releasing heated gases that launched the fractured ball, now the size of a television. Barret gave it a curious glance before swearing.

"Aw, hell no! Shrapnel!" Grabbing the nearest person he dived to the ground, pulling Red XIII with him. The ball smashed against Yuffie's shield, and true to form exploded to release a wave of stone fragments. Cloud rolled over to shield Tifa and Yuffie, a hail of stone splintering against his armour and cutting into his back. With a stretched groan the barrier dissolved away, forcing Yuffie to jump and avoid the remaining bits.

The gate's charge-up had bought the rest some valuable time though. Skipping above the explosion Vincent had a clear view of the face, firing in rapid succession bullets against its jaw. Stone chipped off, but was quickly replaced as more grinded into place.

Cait Sith had taken the hit on the side, sending both cat and moogle into the wall. With a pitiful mew he got back on though, rolling the raffles one more time before throwing six dice. Smiling as grimly as a stuffed cat could, his eyes narrowed in expectation as the dice tumbled to the resting position. From what Link could see, their numbers summed up to thirty four, with three sixes involved.

As in retaliation to the gate's own barrage, a glowing sphere of spikes appeared, giving off a celestial wail before launching salvo after salvo of spikes, the ghostly spears crashing into the gate mercilessly. In its way of defending itself the gate launched a hail of stone projectiles, but the spears ghosted through to strike true against the wall.

Had their enemy been anything more than stone, Link would have expected a cry of pain, a roar of anger or something in response the damage dealt. Instead it looked forwards with the same blank expression of before, the cracked wall slowly trying to mend itself.

Perhaps as a sign of the damage dealt, or perhaps due to a different strategy, the wall only launched two limbs of stone, these two being heavier and infinitely faster. The face stretched slightly, looking at Link directly again. 'Leave; take the Cetra daughter with you. You will survive.'

He probably changed his gun when Link wasn't looking, but Barret replaced the machine gun with one bizarre looking shotgun. Plucking the bits of stone from his shoulders Barret gave the stone face one hate filled glance before levelling the weapon directly at the face.

"This is for you, ya ugly blockhead," he snarled, slapping a wad of ammunition in, "Angermax!"

It was an interesting spectacle to see: the solemn face of stone against the expressive Barret, the beam of stone facing the repeated blasts of his shotgun. At some point Link believed Barret would have to move aside, but the beam ran out of punch and had to retract, letting him pepper the face with two sprays.

"Sorry man, but we're not going down without a fight," Link apologised with a grin to the battered face, instinctively ducking to dodge an overhead bludgeon. A sword wasn't going to do much against a wall of stone, so the most he was going to do was wave the blade in a threatening manner and grab its attention. Hopping, he could feel the warmth of friction as the edge of his sandal started burning away as it skimmed against the limb of stone.

Aeris was now back up and running, and for a nice girl she was very willing to show her spite against the stone gate. The air humidifying around her, a pale blue corona floated around her hands before condensing into a shaft of water. Tapping her staff lightly against the ground to signify the end of the spell, the nimbus broke, drilling droplets of water against the stone with the force of a waterfall.

With an almost irritated air Link could almost imagine that the gate didn't want to fight Aeris, just prevent her from hitting it. With condescending patience ghostly tendrils coalesced, flaring out to wrap the slower fighters.

Barret and Cid struggled, smacking away the vaporous arms with their weapons. Soon they wondered why they were struggling anyway, and staring at the growing greyness of the points struck started struggling even more. Cloud was smarter in his hunt for a remedy.

"Yo, a bit of help 'ere?" Cid shouted out, waving the arm that wasn't stone around to attract attention. That arm was quickly lowered to avoid losing everything from the elbow up, but undeterred he sent it back up waving. "Tifa, what's takin' yer so long with the bloody help?"

Glaring at him, she plucked out a Materia from her pouch and finding a clear space in her gauntlet fixed it in. "Patience, I'm not your nurse!"

Her attempt to reach them was blocked by another shrapnel bomb was launched, bowling Red XIII over and exploding right in front of her. Only instinctual reflexes saved her eyes from damage, arms cross-guarding her face from the whizzing bits.

Aeris, seeing the plight of her friend disengaged her onslaught of water based attacks to cast a major healing spell. The stone gate launched another stone projectile, colliding powerfully with her staff and throwing her Materia askew.

Snatching the water Materia in his teeth Red XIII loped to a safe distance, his only summoning being the growl around the object. Blasting the wall with another cascade of water, his eyes hunted for the healing Materia needed to break the stone grasp that had Cid up to his neck, Barret two his chest and Cloud up to his elbows. In an almost mocking gesture his fingers turned to stone just as they grasped the remedy bottle.

Seeing one of the amorphous stone bulging and aiming at the cluster of frozen friends, Link slapped one aimed at his head aside and running to Cloud's defence. Curling into himself, he rolled forward, tucking the blunt edge of his sword against his right elbow and gripping tightly to the bottom of the hilt. He unrolled just in time to catch sight of the incoming projectile in his peripheral vision

For a weapon not suited for cutting stone, the kikuichimonji did its job surprisingly well. Well, a Sea Dragon couldn't be made out of putty, so anything that can cut through one should be able to cut through anything. Sparks flew as the blade sawed into the stone, cutting a serrated hews through the appendage. Just when Link believed his wrist would snap from the strain applied the sword sliced through, leaving a metre length of stone unattached to its origin. On hitting the ground the stone dissolved, trickling along the crevasses between the pavement back to the wall.

'You were not meant for this world,' The gate intoned, an arm shooting out to petrify Red XIII with the healing Materia in his jaws. 'I have seen much, and have seen your entry. You were not meant for this world.'

"Life isn't easy," Link agreed, batting away the projectiles of rock that were trying to obliterate Cloud's legs into dust. Cloud was straining his neck to keep as much of his head from turning to stone.

"Hey Link, could you do me a favour?" He managed to choke out, what with his voice box already petrified.

"Yeah?"

'Leave, and I will grant you passage out of here. Approach me when this business is finished, and I will give you exit.' One limb shooting out to push Aeris away from helping Tifa, it added as an afterthought, 'Take the Cetra daughter with you.'

"You see the blue bottle in my hand?" If cloud could wriggle his fingers, he would. "Well, break it. Or better yet, find another blue bottle and douse me with it."

"Sure thing." It was quite a tricky thing, flapping his right hand around in search of the bottle and swinging his left hand to deflect the powerful shots. Link couldn't feel his arm anymore. Managing to touch the pouch, he had to let go to dive and protect Cid from being cracked in two. Then it went back to searching again.

'I have guarded the passages of hell. My eyes have seen the horrors there are, and can see the pain that will befall you. Protect the Cetra daughter. The Sister's child will strike her.'

"Sister? What are you talking about?" Link smiled lightly as his hand grasped onto a vial. It had the right shape, and fingering the ridges on it proved it to be a remedy. Yanking it out of the pouch, he decided on the quickest way to break it. The closer to the top, the better.

"Ow! My nose!"

Whoops – not all of Cloud had turned to stone. Link had a short moment to flick his eyes and see the growing bruise where he punched the glass vial against. Raising his eyebrows in apology he turned his attentions back to the gate, swinging his sword out to pierce an appendage that would have cracked Barret clean. With a grunt he wrestled his sword free of it.

"Oh for crying out loud what does it take to let us pass?" Link gritted, using the blunt edge of his sword to whack another incoming bolt aside. Aiming his right hand lower he smashed the bottle against Cloud's neck, releasing the liquids to work their magic.

Had he seen, he would have been granted the spectacle of the blue liquid dribbling down, hissing like steam as it scored its path down the stone ways, fading into the stone before reaching the ground. The stone areas, where tinted blue would start to glow with radiant heat as it essentially burned away to release the flesh trapped beneath. With a gentle ripple cloth would be revealed, twisting and stretching as the remainder of it returned from its petrified status. For men completely converted to stone this was a painless act; for men who still had a functioning brain the reassembly of the nerves brought tears to the eyes. Cloud bore it with a stoic wince, biting his lip.

'Passage? Evidence that your human allies can change the future, Hylian,' it blared. Link's eyes widened at that word. 'Proof that they are those destined to save our Planet, rather than destroy it.'

As Cloud yanked his shoes free from the remainder of stone still attached, Red XIII managed to successfully cure Cid, and Tifa had cracked a remedy over Barret's head. At some point Vincent kicked Aeris her staff back, and Cait Sith took the job of pummelling the stone wall away with water. With an almighty rumble half of the wall collapsed, leaving the face and everything to its right intact.

"Proof?" Link mused, taking the sharply reduced onslaught to drink a tonic to return feeling in his arm. His eyes flicked from each person to the next. Barret was the environmentalist trying to save the Planet. Red XIII the descendant and Aeris saw the Planet's destruction. Yuffie was a ninja who wanted power for Wutai, meaning sapping strength from Shinra. Vincent and Cid had a personal vendetta against the mega-corporation. Tifa helped from her ties with her friends, Cait Sith due to belief of redemption and Cloud because of Sephiroth. Where did Link stand in this?

He fought for the chance to see Jenova. And maybe for the last time truly end her. Come home, if you can. Come home...

"Well, as for motivation, you're going to have to take our word for it." Link's grin faltered slightly as the wall used the newly-made rubble as projectiles, and he had to duck to avoid a car-sized boulder from hitting him. Aeris and Vincent were alternating attacks of ice and fire to aid Cait Sith's. Freeze and thaw; freeze and thaw. I will erode you from existence.

"As for strength," Link shaded his eyes as motes of power swirled into Cloud's sword, "we'll be proving it shortly." Swinging the heavy sword into his charge position, Cloud sprinted forward, ignoring the strike against his shin as he pushed his angered assault towards the gate's face.

As the sword closed in Link squinted to block out the light emitted from the sword. Glowing like a hydraulic system filled with phosphorus liquid overworked itself within the blade it struck deep into the stone above the face, the increased resistance not hindering its powerful descent downwards. "Finishing Touch," Cloud whispered with almost perverse satisfaction.

Sword cleaving straight through, he hopped back to admire his handiwork and be prepared for any suicide blasts. A perfect vertical slice cracked the face in two, one side now slanting without the wall's support. Both eyes stared forward though, twitching the head so they looked at Link. 'Very well,' the voice said, softly this time, 'you may pass.'

If stone could smile, Link would have thought it did. Shifting with an ear rending screech the stones started to disintegrate, falling apart into powder and then evaporating into mist. What was left was an armlet and as if an apology to Yuffie, another giant shuriken in replacement. It mysteriously even had the smiley face sticker she liked to plaster on her weapons.

"Whoa, creepy," Yuffie commented, twirling the weapon and testing its weight, "but I'm not complaining. This is pretty good." Eyes lingering on the armlet still lying on the ground as everyone tried to heal each other, she pointed at it and asked soulfully, "Can I have that?"

Tifa cracked an eye open to glance at it before shutting it again. She found a cold compress somewhere and was applying it to her forehead. Stupid shrapnel bombs. "Be fair Yuffie, give it to Link: he never wears armour."

Yuffie's eyes grew large with crocodile tears and she passed her gaze between Link and Tifa. He raised his hands to show he wasn't involved in the argument. "B-but Link doesn't need to wear armour, he's bloody fast as he is! Besides, he can't use Materia either!"

Barret, who previously was sticking his head through the opening to breathe the fresh air and enjoy sunlight tumbled back in to comment. "Tha's true too," he rumbled, comparing his battered own armour to the golden tinted one lying there, "so since Link cahn't use't properly, Yuffie's got a new disc thing an' me's got the oldest armour, I think tis' fair if-"

"Ah, whaddya know about fair, ya bit lug?" Cid interrupted, jabbing Barret's belly with a finger. "Yeh stuff yer face before dishin' the food to us. 'Sides, yer armour's not gonna break soon. I didn't see yeh get swung 'round like a rag doll."

"And you were?" Red XIII chuckled lightly. Shaking his head, he nudged the armlet into the middle of the heated group. "Since rational decision making clearly isn't going to work with this lot, let's just randomly pick."

Nodding reluctantly, they all organised themselves into a circle, and on Red XIII's insistence Link joined in. Checking the number of people involved, Yuffie started chanting a simple rhyme, bouncing her finger along with each syllable:

"Papa's making a brand new brew,

Made of lotion and shampoo,

If there's a hole in your shoe,

Then this therefore belongs to you."

Going around, she eventually pointed at herself. "Me? Wai! Thank you, you guys are so kind!" Clutching her new armlet happily she cheerfully ignored the mutters of 'cheating bugger' and 'thief'.

Now that little issue was rounded up, they joined the larger group to determine the more important issues: the Black Materia. "So, choice: who takes it?" It was a short introduction to the problem, but Tifa succinctly summed it up.

"Ah suggest Yuffie," Cid spoke up, covering his right ear momentarily at an adamant 'hey!' from her, "she picks locks, pockets and everything else. This is gonna be a piece o' cake fer her."

"This is no joke guys," Aeris said seriously, "whoever does it has to sacrifice themselves for it."

Cait Sith piped up then. "If it's just sacrifice I can do it," he mewed, pointing at his stuffed body, "this thing can be replaced. It might take a while for the replacement to arrive, but it's better than not returning ever."

Well, wasn't that a candid thought. "But I thought you said that pain does get relayed from that stuffed toy to you?" Link asked? Cait Sith mewed in agreement, shrugging. My loss, he seemed to gesture.

It didn't take long to remove everything from Cait Sith that they wanted to keep: Materia, weapons, armour and other accessories were stripped off, and Cait Sith even wanted them to keep the raffles box for some reason. Link had to admire the connectivity between controller and puppet, for you could see the nervousness in the cat's eyes: this is going to hurt a lot.

Aeris, seeing the cat uncomfortable, tried to ease the situation. "Since you'll be gone for a while, why don't you give us a fortune telling?" Smiling lightly, she held a finger to his chin before raising it. "I know, tell us who's best suited for Cloud."

Cait Sith seemed happy to do the task, temporarily taking back his raffles box and shaking it. With a flourish built to make ten year olds cheer he pulled out the card, scrutinising it before throwing it aside. "Poor Tifa," he said softly, "looks like Cloud's heart will always be with Aeris." Feeling a bit more confident, he returned the raffles box and ushered them to leave.

They hadn't been separated from the outside world for long – merely a few hours, perhaps a day or two given the time distortion qualities – but everyone was looking around with renewed vigour, enjoying the sun on the skin, the colour of leaves, the caress of wind.

Cait Sith said he'll give them ten minutes to get out of danger's way. Plodding their way back to the shore, Red XIII offered to leave and track down where they left the Tiny Bronco. The rest lay down to enjoy the scenery.

Lying on the ground and staring at the sky, Link smiled at the clouds. A Deku Baba, trying to snap at the legs of a running Kokiri. As the winds pushed he could imagine the Kokiri turning around, laughing at the Deku Baba at its failed shot.

Before, Link thought nostalgically, he was afraid of anything larger than his shins: giant spiders, giant plants, it was always with tense muscles did he defend. Yet in the span of less than a year's worth of consciousness, the boy who feared anything that might bite him was striking down the King of Evil, shaving through armies of the dead without batting an eyelash, defeating beasts best left sealed with nary a fright. When did he turn from the lost child who wanted acceptance into the Hero of Time?

Probably, Link recollected, tracing the shape of the fleeing Kokiri, when he realised that as saviour, everyone would accept him. He would have thrown down the mantle, cracked under the burden if not for the dreams of national recognition, as man and child alike knew his name and spoke it not with confusion or contempt but with respect. Link, the Hero of Time! Who would throw their insults against his name? Who would speak such an honour in the same sentence of disgust?

In the end, only a select few remembered. In the end, it didn't really matter – Link finally understood what he did, and found peace in that even though no one knew him for his efforts, he saved them, and the fact that no one knew of the dangers that threatened was proof he won.

Link was drawn out of his reverie by the sound of displaced air. Jolting up from the high shriek, he watched with detached fascination as the Temple shrank in size, collapsing into its smaller status with a bang on a gong. Pausing for just a moment it shrank again, volume reducing by half each time, falling beneath the tree line. With each reduction the ground shook, sinking imperceptibly towards the centre of the island. By the time they reached where the Temple used to lie, a massive crater was created.

"Wow, not bad," Cloud whistled as he skidded towards the Black Materia lying in the centre. Twiddling the Materia between his fingers, it was with noticeable relief he proclaimed, "Now we've beaten Sephiroth to it. While we have this, the world is safe."

Link inspected the Materia closely, watching how the lifestream distorted itself around it, pushing away and forming the strongest shell possible to prevent magic from flowing in. When it was a Temple the lifestream flowed loosely, in this compressed form they were smashed against each other, forcing the furthest ones further and creating solid concentric circles with the Materia as the centre. A safety device, he realised, it will take a lot of magic to push the lifestream in, more than he believed Aeris was possible of managing. More than a dozen Aeris' could hope to manage.

"I don't see how anyone can use this in the first place," Link said with a tinge of disbelief, tracing the geometric circles with his foot, "it'd take someone strong enough to wrestle with the lifestream to get this thing to work."

A laugh echoed out, derisive, condescending, cruel. Appearing right next to Cloud Sephiroth laughed, arms crossed in a bemused expression. Now with a closer look, Link could see that the lifestream bended towards him…

"Wrestle with the lifestream? Indeed, it takes much strength the master this Materia," he sneered, pointing at the object clasped tightly in Cloud's grasp, "yet who needs to fight what is already yours? I am the traveller of the lifestream, bending it to my will with each step." Flicking his gaze to Cloud's, he commanded, "Give it to me."

"W-what? No!" Cloud struggled to speak, yet for his words his body didn't follow. Jolting like a marionette played by a poor puppeteer, his feet lurched forward, arms rising to deliver. "I won't give – no!" Cid jumped forth the push Cloud into his senses, but by then Sephiroth already snatched it.

"The powers of God," he whispered, ignoring the seizure-racked Cloud on the ground and the seething group, "is mine." He laughed, fading back into the lifestream. He laughed because they couldn't stop him, and if they couldn't, who could?

"Won't give – no – won't – no!" Cloud still uttered, hands shooting out in clawing motions to seize back what was given. Grasping a rock he clutched it hard enough to reduce its outer layer to dust, and pulled it close to his chest, glazed eyes not seeing. "Not yours, no, not…" Abruptly his fits ended, eyes rolling back as he sunk into unconsciousness.

Cid rubbed his temples, grimacing at his downed ally. "I woulda kick 'im if 'ee weren't down already," he grumbled frustratedly, "I mean, jus' givin' the flamin' stone to bloody Sephiroth? He's got issues, man, bad issues."

Barret sighed, helping Tifa and Aeris pick him up. "He can't bail out – none of us can," he replied grimly, flicking his head towards to confused Red XIII in the distance, "alls we got is to stick together. C'mon, we'll deal with this back home."

Vincent frowned, watching Cloud closely as they proceeded back towards the Tiny Bronco. He had a guess that it was the Jenova cells acting upon Cloud, yet why didn't they act upon him? With sick realisation he wondered, did he have any? What horrors could Hojo inflict without the aid of a demon? What demon was Hojo himself?

It was a sombre mood, the trip back. Without the Temple of the Ancients to influence the gravity the Tiny Bronco managed to start-up without any issues, plane engine propelling them away from the emptied island and back into the light waters. No one was enjoying the sky's beauty of the water's vastness, caught up in their own thoughts.

Aeris was watching Cloud blankly, her hair removed from her tie as she slowly brushed out any tangles gained from the journey. She rolled her Materia hairclip between her fingers, taking care not to let it fall out of her hands. Wordlessly she passed her brush to Tifa, moving her gaze from Cloud to the hairclip.

At some point Link had pulled out his ocarina and was playing a mournful piece of music on it. He forgot where he learnt it from, he forgot what this piece was for, and he knew nothing of who composed it.

Perhaps part of the intended tune, perhaps as reflection of Link's gapped memories, the melody flowed out, striking chords with pangs of wanting truth, the soft drop of tears crying for the forgotten.

It is easy to give up, Link thought to himself, to admit defeat. Life paradoxically was built to suffer through the worst of storms yet would give up with the slightest touch. Sealed away for seven years, Link never knew what Ganondorf did to wrestle total control over Hyrule, but Link believed that if the populace resisted just a bit longer, held their ground against his attempts of tyranny, he would have exhausted his reserves and failed. Hyrule fell not just because of Ganondorf's strength, but the spirits' weakness. No one tried hard enough.

Perhaps that was why the Goddesses created a Hero of Time: someone who would persevere through the ages, born and reborn as the candle of tenacity to the world's ease of relinquishing hope. The beacon of strength, merely because none had the courage to hold it. Link faced hell because Hylians were afraid of high water.

The situation with Sephiroth looked bad: doom of the Planet, a greater threat that just a mere tyrant. You'd expect with such a larger calamity more people would be geared to fight it, yet people were still having fun in the Gold Saucer, laughing, playing. Ignorance is bliss? The music warbled slightly as Link held back a snort. Ignorance is a killer. With knowledge seven years outdated he was ordered to save his home, the Kokiri Forest. Gone was safe passage through the Village. Gone was the exuberance of the children having fun. Instead were monsters he never dreamed of seeing desecrate such a place, children who were too afraid to protect the surging evil.

Yet could he blame them? What could those fooling around in the Gold Saucer do against a man who rode the lifestream? Heck, ignorance in this world was so prevalent Link was sure half the population didn't know there was a lifestream. What could a child do against the Wolfos that patrolled for an easy meal at night, not knowing of such dangers before?

Some point they hit the mainland, Red XIII taking the duty of carrying Cloud around. Pocketing his ocarina, Link made a quick review of the group. "So where to?"

Cid checked the map briefly, frowning. "The closest settlement is Gongaga Village, 'though tis' gonna take an hour to get there." Lowering the rugged sheet, he sighed out a plume of smoke, holding his cigarette between his ear and head. "Prob'ly gonna take more time with Wonderboy here all asleep, but we can't do much without him awake."

Placed within a shield of forestry, Gongaga Village did prove the effort to reach. Twice they headed a little bit too south or a bit too north, missing the Village completely and needing to backtrack and try again. Yuffie was best suited to this type of terrain, leaping from tree to tree like the woods being a giant playground. The heavier fighters found the damp earth and tripping roots a greater challenge, needing to watch the ground more than the map or way forward. The occasional monster attack was dispatched quickly, a swift strike by Link's sword or Tifa's fist proving enough to clear the area. Examining the sudden power difference, Link truly had to wonder how long they spent within the Temple of the Ancients.

Hiring a tent they rolled Cloud onto a bed, dragging chairs around to wait for him to wake up. A doctor offered to look at him, but could no problems other than mild fatigue. Barret exited to talk on the PHS, telling Cait Sith where to go to find them. Growing bored of just sitting there, so too did the rest of the group, Tifa being the only one staying behind to watch over Cloud.

"Life never gets easy," Vincent said with a bit of mirth, waving his arm in a gesture to encompass the surroundings. "Just when you think things go right, they go wrong."

Link nodded solemnly, watching the citizens push forward in their work: farming, selling, and manufacturing. Children, children, he wanted to call out, for their ages summed to be infants compared to his, why do you work so hard? Destruction looms with a fleeting shadow, a man diseased by Jenova. You cannot see how the lifestream screams with his passage, how life already seems to be mourning what it foresees. You cannot know of the danger you cannot fight, for none of you can pick up the arms needed to battle this menace. No, children, things have gone wrong, horribly wrong, yet only a select few can fix it.

Instead, he just added, "I know what you mean. Look at me: stranded in space for a few centuries, stuck in a volcano for centuries more. But look on the bright side," he chuckled lightly, pointing at the group outside: Yuffie teaching children how to make origami, Red XIII watching the sun paint the sky with its fiery glow, Cid deep in a poker match against the residents and Barret running around, "what could go wrong now? How could it get worse?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, his silent remark accusing Link of tempting fate. Just as to push the punch in Barret ran up to them, heaving for breath. "Hey guys, have any of you seen Aeris? I can't find any of her stuff anywhere."

Shaking his head slowly, Link wondered where she could have gone without resting even one day. Almost as another blow against his ideas, Barret held up a scrunched note with Aeris' handwriting:

Will be back soon. I found a way. With love.

With a groan Link smacked his hand against his forehead, and Vincent smiled again. "Just when things get bad, they get worse." A quick scramble to Cloud's tent proved Barret's statement: Aeris' equipment and a few items were not found, confusing Tifa and worrying her.

From their able group of nine, they were presently chopped down to six.

-S-

A/N: Hmm… Sorry if this chapter doesn't meet your understandably high expectations. I just can't seem to get the mood right… Please, review and offer your suggestions. It's going to take a lot to figure out how to fix this.

To someone's question, yes, Link is going to get his magic back, sort of. It'll be happening pretty soon, if I get this story planned out right. Man, writing two stories is really a trick: one holds one atmosphere, yet you cannot let that leak into the next. I just think it'll be unfair to my readers if I postpone one to complete the other first.

Hopefully my next update won't take so long. As to force myself into some sort of schedule, I promise (and hopefully I won't break it) that the next update will come within three to four weeks. Hold me to my word, complain if I don't.