Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it, please send your reviews and any comments you have.


Chapter 11: Because

Lucy Valentine Strife stood in front of the bedroom window watching the sunrise. She had been awake for awhile, unable to get a good night's sleep. So much had happened lately, but the thing that stuck out most in her mind right now was that she had not seen or spoken to her husband since he left their honeymoon early to chase down a group of military psychos trying to kill them.

She was in one of the spare bedrooms of her sister-in-law, Marlene's house. Lucy put on a pink bath robe and headed down stairs to get a cup of coffee. When she entered the kitchen she was surprised to find an already busy Marlene Strife. Lucy sat down at the kitchen table as Marlene poured her a cup of coffee.

"What are you doing up?" asked Lucy as she took a sip

"Celes woke up early, so I came down here to make her some breakfast. Neither of us has been getting much sleep lately, what with Denzel at work so much and not home." Replied Marlene sadly

"Don't worry about. Denzel can be like Alex some times, when stuff like this happens he becomes obsessed with the situation until things are resolved." Replied Lucy trying to comfort her sister-in-law

"I know it's just that this whole thing is just a really scary situation. Thank you for coming over looking out for me and Celes." Sighed Marlene

"No problem." Smiled Lucy

At that moment Izumi Valentine came into the kitchen looking tired. She sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of coffee. Marlene smiled, but soon heard the cries of her two year old daughter. Marlene excused herself then grabbed Celes' breakfast and headed upstairs to her daughter's room. Izumi sighed as Lucy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Lucy

"No." groaned Izumi

"Join the club…it's hard to sit around feeling like there's nothing to do." Replied Lucy

"You got that right." Retorted Izumi

"Oh…come on you two. We're not here to feel useless, we're to watch each other's backs and protect each other." Stated Yuffie as she walked in to the kitchen

Yuffie poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down across from the two girls.

"I know but it seems like we're just here to be kept out of the way while our husbands go out and do something that could possibly get them killed." Snorted Lucy

"Lucy, destiny is a funny thing. We all have our parts to play. Alex may be out there putting his life in danger, John too, but they couldn't go out there and do what needs to be done if they didn't think that everything was ok at home. Lucy….maybe Alex asked you to stay back, because you're the only one he could have trusted enough to protect his family." Smiled Yuffie

"When did you get so insightful mom?" chuckled Lucy

"Probably the day I feel in love with your father. That's when I finally came to understand how he felt. All those years of watching Tifa drive herself crazy over Cloud started to make sense too." Smiled Yuffie

"I know what you mean." Replied Lucy and Izumi in unison

"Me too." Chuckled Marlene as she came into the kitchen carrying her daughter

All four women shared a laugh, Yuffie then offered to look after Celes. Marlene handed her daughter over to Yuffie, who went into the living room. Marlene then sat down at the kitchen table. The three remaining women continued to catch up and share their problems for another hour.

After breakfast all three women went up stairs to change. When they came down they decided to relax and watch some movies in the living room, while they took care of young Celes. Sitting on the couch, Lucy soon found herself staring out the window wondering what Alex was up to.

"I wish I knew where Alex was." Sighed Lucy

"I tried calling the WRO headquarters, but there was no answer." Replied Izumi

"I have a bad feeling about things." Remarked Lucy sadly

"Relax Lucy…it's probably nothing." Said Yuffie

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, Lucy got up and opened the door to find her father standing there standing next to Tifa Strife.

"Dad…..Tifa….what are you guys doing here?" asked Lucy confused

"Red and I need to borrow Izumi's plane." Stated Vincent trying not to make eye contact with his daughter

"Dad, what's wrong?" asked Lucy concerned

"Lucy…..we got bad news?" stated Tifa silently

Earlier that day

General Cash was still trembling from what had happened. All around him were vans filled with WRO members that were loyal to him. Before Cash went into Denzel's office Cash had a few of his loyal officers round up people willing to follow him. When Cash entered the vehicle bay, there were vans awaiting him filled with WRO members loyal to him. As soon as the convoy of vans sped away, Cash headed to the back of the van to lie down and rest.

Cash sighed deeply, this whole experience was horrifying from beginning to end for him. Cash ordered his soldiers not to use any of the main roads in order to go unnoticed. Cash still had no idea where Darkwater was, but Cash had an informant that they were going to meet up with who lived miles down the road from Gongaga. Cash and a few of his men would take a small plane to a small, overlooked airstrip near the town then travel the rest of the way by vans. Once cash had the information he needed he would order all his troops to travel to their final destination.

Right about now Cash was on that said plane on his way to meet with his informant. The plane was smaller that most airships, nut it still had enough room to carry about two vans. Cash looked out his window and sighed, he certainly didn't want to hurt Denzel or start a military revolt, but whenever he looked at the picture of his family in his wallet he knew he did the right thing, he knew he did what he had to.

It was 10 in the morning as they touched down, immediately general Cash hopped off the plane and leaped into the awaiting van. They had no time to lose, Cash needed to find this madman and stop him.

After about an hour of driving they arrived at the home of General Cash's informant. Cash took a deep breathe and got out of the van then headed for the door. It was a small cottage out in the middle of nowhere.

Perry was an old buddy of General Cash, he used to work for the WRO, but quit 10 years ago. He was a bit of an eccentric, always a pragmatist, while at the same time slightly neurotic. Over his lifetime Perry made many connections, which he still keeps in contact with. This has made Perry an invaluable resource to General Cash.

Cash knocked on the door, after a minute of waiting the door opened to reveal the pudgy form of Perry Dorian former Sergeant of the WRO. Perry smiled and embraced his old friend then invited him and his military escorts in. Cash had his troops wait by the doors and windows, while cash sat down on Perry's couch. Perry sat down on his favorite arm chair and poured Cash a cup of tea.

"So old friend…what brings you here?" chuckled Perry

"Quite a bit actually, but I don't think I need to tell you about it. Now doubt you already know." Sighed Cash

'I've heard things, but when you get to be in my position you don't believe everything you hear." Chuckled Perry

"So….word got around" stated Cash solemnly

"Big news travels fast. Plus with all the noise Darkwater's been making in the underground it was only a matter of time before you came to me." Replied Perry

"So you do know about Darkwater?" inquired Cash

"As I said I know a lot of things. Darkwater's been moving a lot of heavy machinery for quite some time. With a lot of the new WRO restrictions going around, most of the truck drivers have turned to underground smuggling to score gil."

"So….Darkwater's been using the underground."

"Yup…He's been having truck loads of machinery, weapons, artillery, etc up into the ruins of Midgar."

"Midgar….why?"

"Who knows, but according to my sources…if Darkwater's going to do anything, It'll be at Midgar."

"Thanks for the help Perry."

Cash stood up and shook Perry's hand then started heading for the door. Just as Cash was about to head out, Perry called out to him one last time.

"You know Stephen, I'm not one for telling others what choices to make in life. But, I just gotta ask you……Do you think you're doing the right thing?' asked Perry solemnly

"I don't know." Replied Cash as he looked away and headed out the door

Cash sighed deeply then got back in his van and headed back toward their awaiting planes. His accompanying troops radioed the meeting point of the rest of Cash's troops while the drove. As they were traveling down the road, Cash briefly glimpsed a man waving at the vans. Cash paid no attention and told the driver to move on. Cash's only concern at this moment was getting to Midgar and stopping Darkwater once and for all.

Meanwhile high in the skies Izumi Valentine was in her personal plane flying her father-in-law, Lucy and Red 13 to Rocket Town. No body knew what to think when Vincent and Tifa showed up at Denzel's house. But soon, Vincent had informed everyone on what had happened. As soon as she heard the news Marlene fell to the ground crying, Tifa and Yuffie tried their best to consul her, Lucy stood there for a while not exactly sure what to feel or do. Vincent told them that they needed Izumi's personal plane to fly over to Cid's house and round up some Airships for the upcoming battle.

Izumi agreed and Lucy demanded that she come as well. Before she left Lucy grabbed some gear that she had brought with her, then loaded up her gun and headed out. So far the trip had been quiet, Vincent didn't quite know what to say to the two ladies whose husbands were missing. Lucy sat by one of the windows quietly, Izumi tried to concentrate on flying. She put the plane on auto-pilot once more and sat there. According to Vincent, John and Alex were missing and presumed captured by Darkwater and Denzel….well Izumi cared not to think about it.

At this moment Izumi was scarred to death. She had no idea where John was or how he was doing, but with everything she heard about Darkwater she could only imagine what he was going through. Izumi knew John was tough, but still….she worried and who wouldn't. Vincent said that he Cloud, and Red had been talking about Darkwater since they lost to him. Vincent said they had a plan and if they ever found John they'd tell it to him. Izumi was a bit skeptical, but who wouldn't be at a time like this. In times of trouble Izumi would look to her best friend, Lucy.

Lucy always seemed like a pillar of strength to Izumi. No matter what Lucy always seemed to keep a cool head, Lucy always seemed to be able to be strong no matter what the situation. But now, as she sat there staring blankly out the passenger window, Izumi could see that Lucy only had enough strength left in her to keep the tears back.

Lucy sat there at that moment there were no words that could describe how she felt. She felt: scared, angry, vengeful, sad, and a whole host of other emotions. It was taking a great deal of strength to keep from crying. In reality Lucy was a little mad at everyone. She was mad at Darkwater for being the bastrd that he is, she was mad at Alex for running off after him without a single thought, she was mad at Cash for shooting Denzel, hell she was even mad at her father for bring her bad news.

Lucy was just filled with so many emotions at the moment and she just didn't know how to sort through them all. So she just sat there, not sure what to do at all. She could feel the eyes of her father boring a hole through her. Her father had never really been good at having a heart to heart talk with his children.

Vincent finally bit the bullet and moved to sit by his daughter. Lucy didn't turn her head, she just keep looking out her window as Vincent sat down. Vincent sighed as he shifted in his seat. Even after all these years, this type of situation was still a bit uncomfortable for him.

"Lucy……I can only guess how you feel. I'm not going to try, but I am going to try to help you." Sighed Vincent

"Dad….please, not right now. I know you're trying to help, but….." replied Lucy distressed

"Lucy, I've probably been the worst father in the world. But, the one thing I'm most proud of in the world is that, regardless of that fact, I've helped raised two of the most amazing children ever."

"Thanks dad and you were a great father…you still are….it's just…."

"I know, the situation looks bad. You're worried….more so than ever now, because some one you love is in danger."

"Last time when we fought Rufus…..and I thought Alex was dead. I almost died myself, my heart broke. And now I just keep remembering the pain I felt at that moment, but right now I don't even know what to think. Is dead, alive, captured…..I don't know. Everything seems out of my control, everything is spiraling downward…..and I just don't know what to do." Cried Lucy

Lucy started to burst into tears. She just couldn't hold back any longer. Everyone silently looked over to her as she cried, feeling their own sadness in their hearts. Vincent took his sobbing daughter into his arms and held onto her comfortingly. She was like a little girl again crying in her father's arms. Vincent almost couldn't stand the feeling, he had raised a strong beautiful young woman and now her she was….broken.

"Lucy….there have been many times I have felt that things were out of my control. People I cared about…I thought I'd lose. Not sure how anything would workout. The thing that kept me from losing it was that faith. I believed in the people around me, I believed that they had my back and that in the end they would come through for me. It may be hard to just believe in someone so much….but you'll just kill yourself worrying. Alex is a strong man, he's brave, and he's got a good heart. If there was man that I could have ever chosen for it would be him."

"I don't know if I can just sit back and do nothing."

"Then don't…..be strong Lucy. Believe in Alex and be there for him. Don't let the fear get to you….what Alex needs…what everyone needs, is for you to be as strong as you can be."

"I…don't know…."

"I do…Lucy I believe in you. What Alex needs is not for you to be crying, but for you to fight."

"Thanks Dad."

Lucy gave her father a big hug then began to wipe away her tears. Soon Izumi landed the plane and everyone filled out, just in time to find Jr. entering the hanger. He was ready to leave and heading for an airship when Izumi called out to him.

"Cid, What are you doing? We need a lift!" shouted Izumi to her brother

"That's funny I just got a call from someone else who needs a ride, tell you about it on the way!" shouted Cid Jr. as he signaled to everyone to hop on the airship

To be continued…….