Disclaimer: I don't own, so I don't have to deal with the paperwork and fan-mail. I kinda like it that way… I have enough homework as it is.

Brevity

Chapter 12: Wonderings

Mara was yet again lost in the Shera, having left Yuffie in the launch bay with the other troops preparing to descend after remembering that she'd forgotten something. She was lucky enough to run into Shelke, and that Shalua had the foresight—or had just realized that Mara was not the most organized person and was likely to forget—to send her gift down with her little sister. It was only after Shelke walked away that she realized why the girl looked so strange, and she silently cursed herself for forgetting. 'Z, I need some help…' she begged, fighting down the knot of panic in her throat as she raced down the hall toward the only open door. "Vincent?" she called, skidding to a stop in the doorframe and not wanting to admit how desperate and frightened her voice sounded. 'Shut up, self… you know you're not about to lose him, so pull it together…' As gently as she could, Mara knelt beside the fallen gunman, and after a moment of hesitation, laid a hand on his back. The shaking beneath her palms scared her far more than the thought of falling out of the Shera on an air-board amid heavy gunfire, but she swallowed that fear so Vincent wouldn't see it. "Vincent, can you hear me? Do you need anything?" she asked softly. She almost couldn't hold back tears when the only answers were soft grunts of pain, but then there was a familiar brush of warm air, mixed with gentle humming, the feel of violet, and the scent of rain.

"Vincent, listen to me…" Azriel said softly as he appeared on Vincent's other side. "You lost the proto-materia, you didn't lose yourself. Don't give in to the call of suffering and pain…" As the angel spoke, Vincent's breathing came easier, and Mara turned to stare at her guardian angel, the tugging feeling inside her making her wonder if maybe, somehow, Azriel was speaking more out of experience than just an angel's sense of the right words to say. Finally, his pain seemed to disappear, and the two helped him stand. Azriel shot them both a smile and a nod, with a tiny salute at Mara to say he'd join her at the launch before he disappeared once again. Mara looked at the small feather drifting downward, then back up at Vincent, realizing how awkward he must feel at the moment. She caught the feather and gestured for Vincent to step closer.

Confused, he did so, bending down at her further wave, only to start when she reached for a lock of his hair. "What are you doing?"

"Well, my mom always says white feathers are good luck. I figure we could use all the help we can get pretty soon, and it's probably extra-lucky when it's from a friend," she explained as she quickly braided the feather into a tiny lock, where it fell back underneath the gunman's collar. "And now we match!" she added, grinning and holding up the small braid of hers where the first feather hung.

For a moment, Vincent didn't know whether to laugh or be somehow offended, and he still wasn't sure why he didn't feel… ashamed… as he might have if it had been anyone else who'd found him on the floor. "…Thank you…" he finally settled with.

Mara just beamed proudly and nudged his arm. "Hey, that's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other," she said with a grin, which only served to confuse Vincent further. But before he could say anything more, she laughed softly to herself and darted off again, presumably to find Yuffie and finalize their "master plan".


"You're sure about this…?" Vincent asked softly as the doors to the launch bay slowly creaked open.

Mara glanced back and gave him a grin. "Not really, but there ain't no way I'm gonna let that stop me now. Not when everyone else here is fighting so hard for reasons they can only barely begin to understand," she replied confidently. But inside she was more than terrified. Not just of the thousands of Deep Ground soldiers she'd be facing once they landed, assuming she made it down there alive… and assuming that summoning Bahamut from the materia she'd arrived in this world from didn't send her back… Without realizing it, she reached up and fingered the red teardrop pendant around her neck; a nervous habit since the day she'd gotten it almost eight years ago. When she'd seen it, it reminded her of her favorite character at the time, and despite the fact that it looked like a ruby, it was only cheap plastic… except to her. To her it meant everything; safety, family… home… And as her fingers circled the jewel, she wondered vaguely when she'd started thinking of this place as home…

She was pulled out of her musings as the doors thudded open, and when Yuffie threw a wave at her over her shoulder, she knew it was time. Mara took a deep, centering breath as the first wave deployed and walked down to the edge of the hatch. She looked down at the flashing, bleeding pandemonium below, then reached inside herself, deep into the glowing place where a dragon slumbered, and pulled. There was a click, and then a flash that shot out of her wrist and solidified into a creature of legend. Wings the length of a football field erupted from a curled back, and the dragon stretched, shaking its head and growling softly. After a moment, it turned its great head, giant sapphire eyes locking onto wide brown ones. There was a rumble from the beast, and it tilted its head, and Mara laughed, leaping gracefully onto the warm neck. "C'mon, baby… let's go save the world…" she whispered, then let out a yell of delight as the great dragon roared and banked, turning and aiming at the armies below.

Vincent stared in what could only be called awe, wondering if it was perhaps because the dragon and girl were born of the same materia that they seemed able to understand each other so easily. And perhaps that might also be a reason why this particular summon was formed differently from the others of its kind he'd seen. It wasn't much of a difference, but the body seemed… smoother, more streamlined than the other Bahamuts he'd seen summoned. He didn't get much time to ponder these things, however, as an explosion rattled the bay. With a grimace of irritation—and if truth be told, worry—he skated down the ramp and launched himself into the fray.

Mara couldn't stop the joyous laughter as her dragon rolled, dodging missiles and bullets and shooting off bursts of energy at Black Widows and turret gunners, and when they spun into a dive, she shouted excitedly. Wings spread and they pulled up mere feet from the heads of the soldiers, soaring proudly above the W.R.O. troops and roaring in the faces of Deep Ground. One sweeping blast of lightning shook apart the front lines, and then they were climbing again, out of range of return fire. When a flash of red to her left drew her attention away from the battle, however, she leaned down to whisper a strategy. With a great roar, dragon and girl banked, raining thunderbolts and a few swiped grenades on the DG army before slipping through a break in the plate. A few soldiers tried to take pot-shots at them as they raced through, turning quickly to avoid chunks of metal in their path, but none landed; the great beast was traveling too fast for even a bullet to catch. Carefully, Mara slid herself down the dragon's back, doing her best not to shift her weight and make them crash or to fall off. Finally, there was a space large enough for the risky maneuver she'd decided to try. She slipped down the long tail as Bahamut banked once more, and flung her off onto the fallen plate. With a yelp, she landed none too gently, but her speed was too fast to stop, and she rolled straight into the red-clad gunman who'd been staring in confusion at the spectacle. "Hiya, Vincent!" she giggled from where she lay sprawled on top of him. "Nice weather, huh?"

"Get… off…"

"Yeah, yeah… gimme a minute to feel my own legs again…" Mara shot back with a roll of her eyes. She let her head rest back against the cool metal for a moment, her eyes closed as she categorized the bruises and checked that nothing was broken, and then she took a breath and rolled her legs off the poor ex-Turk's chest. "Sorry about that… I still haven't master my landings yet…" With another deep breath, she flipped to her feet and turned to wave at the dragon hovering above them. It let out a soft snort before turning and shooting upwards, off to wreak havoc with DG Dragonflies. Vincent was giving her a calculating look when she turned around, and she instantly got self-conscious again, flushing and tugging at the sides of her vest. "What…?"

The gunman just shook his head. "You are an odd child…" he said, turning and surveying the path down to ground level.

Mara just grinned and stretched before moving to stand beside him. "Believe me, I am aware. You are not the first person to point that fact out—not even the fiftieth— and I highly doubt you'll be the last." That earned a soft chuckle, and Vincent strode off.

When he realized she was not immediately behind him, he paused and turned. "Come on… I suppose I'm stuck with you, but at least try to keep up," he said, sounding bored, but Mara only grinned again.

"Aw, Vincent… I had no idea you cared," she teased, easily falling into step. He snorted disbelievingly. "Don't snort! You can't lie to me. You act all prickly, but you snark because you care. I know these things. Remember, I grew up with Azriel as a guardian angel," she added sagely, to which Vincent couldn't really argue, and thus said nothing.

With only a few more ungraceful leaps, the two made it down into the Sector Seven train graveyard. Mara was staring around in awe and rubbing the newest bruise on her butt when Vincent's phone rang. She listened patiently while he talked to Shelke, then waved for him to pass it over before the other girl hung up. "Shelke! Sup! Tis Mara. Did you and Shalua manage to hack into the system for me?" she asked excitedly. Vincent lifted an eyebrow, not expecting any good to come from such a request. "Really!? Excellent! You guys rock! Thanks a lot. Oh, and tell Shalua thanks for fixing me up with a phone. Later!" With a pleased smile, she flipped the phone closed and tossed it to Vincent before rummaging through her pockets and pulling out the device she listened to music on. He watched in silent interest as she scrolled through something and finally made her choice. As soon as she hit the button, the old speakers around them creaked to life, and after a moment, music began floating out, slow at first, before building into an excited crescendo, all while Mara smiled and conducted with a finger as she set up something on her further-improved-upon iPod.

"…What did you do?" Vincent finally asked accusingly.

Mara shrugged and slipped the device back into its pocket. "Nothing," she replied innocently, moving past him and checking around the trains. "Just asked Shelke and Shalua to hack into Shinra's old PA system and wire it into my iPod for a little bit of epic background music. Shalua rigged a phone into it, too."

"… Background music…" Vincent repeated incredulously. There was no end to her strangeness.

"Yeah. Something to help inspire us while also freaking out the other side, ya know? Helps mask movement, too. Besides, this one's called "In League with Cerberus". I thought it ironically fitting." Vincent just shook his head and decided ignoring her random ideas from now on might be best for his sanity, because trying to figure them out was all but impossible. "Yeah, yeah, go on and shake your head and think I'm crazy. No wonder you don't smile much… never stop analyzing things long enough to let loose and have a little fun," she muttered, padding after him.

He shot her a glance over his shoulder. "What?"

"You heard me!"

"…You honestly think a war is a good time for "fun"…?"

"Well, duh. Best time, for it, really. I mean, if you don't have a little fun, all you'll do is think about the dark side of everything, and this war especially has enough darkness to drive somebody completely mad. But if you just… take a minute to breathe, to feel the music and let it drive you… things don't look so bad anymore… you start to see a little bit of hope in the world." She realized he was staring at her strangely again, and fidgeted. "Well, for me, at least. Then again, I'm pretty weird… Still, you'll never know if you never try."

Vincent was silent for longer than usual, staring off toward the distant gunfire and sounds of battle. "My mother used to say the same thing…" he said finally, voice soft, and Mara smiled. Before either of them could think of something else to say, voices up ahead drew their attention. Vincent was pulling out Cerberus when Mara put a hand out.

"Wait, I think that's our guys up there," she whispered, and before he could stop her, she crept forward through the smoke. She straightened when she saw the khaki uniforms. "Hey!" she cried happily, accidentally making some of the poor troops jump, and one of them instinctively pointed a gun at her, but lowered it when Vincent morphed up behind her.

"Oh! Mr. Valentine!" one called, and Mara smiled. True, they were in the middle of the final battle of a war for the survival of the very planet… and they were fighting people who had a heart-breaking history and would probably have—if they'd ever actually been given the choice—rather been doing anything but fight, but still… There were still people like the troops in front of her; willing to risk everything for a small chance to stop the bloodshed. There were good people here, on both sides. And this time, she wouldn't just have to sit back and watch everything burn. This time, she would stand and fight, protect the lives that just wanted a second chance for peace and freedom and a happily ever after. Because maybe by fighting, protecting that hope in others, maybe she'd finally find it in herself.

And so she and Vincent guided and guarded the W.R.O. troops who'd landed down below the plate to safety. Though admittedly, Vincent did most of both. Mara provided distractions and first aid. And earned herself quite a few looks of alarm at one point as she and the other troops took cover behind an upturned train and Vincent darted ahead to deal with the snipers. Someone had whispered that they should "do something", and she'd fallen into a fit of giggles after almost replying "What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?" And once her Lion King giggles had subsided, it gave her an idea. One that she'd hold in reserve, as a moment later, Vincent reappeared signaling the all clear. And she'd just learned a new limit break. Completely by accident, and she'd almost electrocuted herself with her own Thunder Blade, but still.

By the time they found the WRO Commander, Mara was in rather high spirits. She'd managed to learn something new, hadn't gotten in the way, and actually helped keep their entire group alive. Azriel hadn't even had to step in to cover for her. Thus, she was only half-listening to the conversation between Vincent and the Commander as she sipped her water, already aware of what was basically said in any case. That was, until Vincent's bleak little observation as he tried to dissuade the troops from following them further. "If you come with me, chances are you'll all die."

Mara couldn't help a small snort at that. "That's reassuring," she mumbled, stashing her water bottle and stretching, only to pause as he turned to look at her. She felt her cheeks flush as her heart fell. He had the same look in his eyes that Cloud had had on the Shera, what felt like years ago.

"You'll be staying here, too," he said flatly, as if it were obvious. Invisibly, Azriel shook his head in pity. Poor Valentine didn't even know the kid well enough to anticipate the explosion that came after a solid minute of silence.

"WHAT?! SO I'M JUST ANOTHER BURDEN TO BE DROPPED OFF AT THE FIRST POSSIBLE CHANCE, IS THAT IT!?" Mara shouted, cheeks red and eyes glittering from shame and anger and the irrational feelings of betrayal and failure. "I'M JUST SOME KID TO BE PUT UP WITH UNTIL THE OPPORTUNITY POPS UP TO LEAVE! JUST A LAME LITTLE GIRL TOO STUPID TO FIGURE OUT WHICH END OF THE SWORD POINTS OUT, RIGHT?"

Vincent actually took a step back from her unexpected rage, blinking as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. "T-that's not…" he began, but Mara was too far gone to listen.

"You know, I may not be the best fighter, and I may be crazy, but don't you dare think you can judge me for that! I'm here for a reason! I'm here to try my best to fucking HELP when everything goes to hell, not sit around being laughed at by the "heroes" who've already done this before! I may not be great at it, but I still have something to fight for, and YOU don't get to tell me I'm not good enough for that!" She broke off with a small laugh and pressed the ball of her wrist against the ache that started in her forehead. "And to think, I'd always thought that this was the one place I'd actually be able to make a difference… that maybe the people I looked up to as heroes would be different from everyone else…"

"What are you-?" Vincent started again, but it only served to set Mara back on the defensive, bristling and glaring like an angry cat.

"I'm not like you, ok?! I can't just sit around and let things play out however they want to! I can't look at the way things might be and not try to fix it, to make it something better! Maybe that makes me stupid, or childish, or naïve, but I can't fucking change that, so I'll fight until I have absolutely nothing left in me to change WHATEVER I can!" Vincent was surprised to see tears streaming down her cheeks now, which she apparently also noticed, and felt less surprised and more furious about. She grimaced, wiping at her cheeks and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. For a moment, the only sounds were the missiles and bullets from above and her quiet sniffles, and then one of the troops coughed softly and the spell was shattered. "I NEVER ASKED TO COME HERE!" she yelled, voice breaking as she turned and stormed out.

Azriel took this opportunity to appear by Vincent's shoulder. He waved at the WRO soldiers, who were now so far beyond shocked they could only blink. "Hey there, just ignore me," he told them pleasantly before turning to Vincent and clearing his throat gently. "Well, that was, er, Mara… in rage-mode… now, you should go after her…" he said, gently turning the other man's shoulders and pushing him out the door and in the direction of one very upset and unobservant girl and the sounds of gunfire.


A/N: Caps Lock—unleash the FURY. Poor Vincent. Just had to say the exact thing to push the anger-gauge past the QUIET setting. That'll learn ya. Usually it takes somebody insulting Jurassic Park to get me that loud. I mean, really, HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE DINOSAURS?! I don't understand…