Jadak clung to Aerith for most of the ride back. Angeal had sat next to Zack, the boy had opened up a bit more to them since he realized his brother would be safe, Zack just smiled telling the boy about different fighting styles and weaponry. Cloud may have cracked the shell the boy had, but Zack had blown it wide open.
The sun was just beginning to set when they pulled up to the hospital. "Will you come with me, when the doctor comes?" Jadak said looking up at Aerith.
"Of course sweetie." Aerith said with a smile on her face, giving the boy a hug.
Cloud lead the group into the hospital, Angeal taking Zack's hand, Aerith carrying Jadak and Sephiroth pulling up the rear.
A few startled looks were given by those sitting in the waiting room. Cloud deftly ignored them walking up to the check in station. It was obvious the lady sitting at the desk was nervous as hell, but she was at least still doing her job. "Can I help you General Strife sir?" she finally got out.
"I need you to check in this boy." Cloud said, as Aerith walked forward with him. "His name is Jadak, and he has no parents. I'll be footing the bill."
"Yes, alright, I'm sure we have a room for him." She said scrambling through some paper work.
"You don't have to put us ahead of anyone else, I just request that his brother and Aerith are allowed to stay with him." Cloud stated motioning to the two.
"I don't think that will be a problem sir. Can I please ask you to fill out as much as you can?" The lady asked him handing him a clipboard with admission papers and a pen.
"I'll do what I can." He said and turned from the woman as she visibly relaxed.
Thankfully there was a private waiting area for families currently empty. They didn't need any civilians poking around. The group settled down and Cloud realized he knew nothing about the boy.
"Angeal, this wants information on your bother, to help him better. If you know any of it I would appreciate it." Cloud said softly.
Angeal looked at it, and while he struggled a bit it was clear he could read somewhat. "You should probably write, I don't know our last name, daddy never used it, but I do know his birthday is August 19th and he's 3 years old. I really don't know anything else it asks." Angeal said looking slightly upset.
"It's ok, even that helps." Cloud said trying to offer a reassuring smile. It wasn't uncommon for orphan children to have no idea about their personal information. Sometimes it was possible to find out where they were born and look through records, but many times the records had been destroyed if there had even been any to begin with.
Angeal smiled and nodded, and then another woman entered the room.
"I'm looking for Jadak?" She said sweetly.
"He's right here." Aerith said motioning the boy curled up in her lap.
"I just need to do his pre-admit screen, take his temperature, weight, height and blood pressure" she said .
"Jadak." Aerith said softly as the boy looked up. "You need to go with this lady so she can get you checked in."
"You and Angeal will come with me wont you?" Jadak asked.
Aerith just nodded and helped Jadak down who took the nurse's hand. Angeal just got out of the seat next to Zack and followed them out of the room.
Cloud watched them go, then turned back to Sephiroth and Zack. "I know I'm not the only one who noticed."
"That the boy bears a striking resemblance to the Angeal we knew, and even has the same name." Sephiroth asked.
"I mean, if it's not him..." Zack said looking at the door were the nurse left.
"It's not just that." Cloud said keeping his gaze on the two men. "The youngest one, Jadak. I didn't realize at first why but I thought he was familiar too."
"Who was he?" Sephiroth asked.
"Jadak backwards is Kadaj, I figured it out on the way back, I know his hair is black, but the way he speaks and everything it has to be. I can't be a coincidence. Not both of them together." Cloud stated.
"I wonder where Lazard is." Zack stated.
"What?" Cloud asked.
"Oh it was just something Tseng said." Zack said waving him off.
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Jadak, had been settled into his own room, and began the treatments for low level persistent Mako poisoning. Aerith as promised stayed with him, Zack decided to stay behind as well while Cloud and Sephiroth went to check on Reno.
Reno was 10 stories up on the floor reserved for military and high ranking Shinra personnel. Sephiroth stayed in the waiting room, not knowing what Reno knew of the current situation and Cloud headed to the room. When he entered , he heard Reno complaining to Doctor Rayleigh. "Common lady, I'm fit as I'll ever be. You even told Tseng I wouldn't need any recovery time."
"Its standard procedure to observe someone for 24 hours. All your tests came back good yes but this is the first time we've ever done this. Please be patient." Doctor Rayleigh sighed.
"Reno you should probably listen to the good doctor you know." Cloud said.
"Hey blondie stay out of it!" Reno shouted at Cloud. "Like you ever stay in as long as they want you too."
"Reno, it will be alright. Just stay the night and you'll be back on duty tomorrow. It's not like we even know where Yazoo is right at the moment." Tseng said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Reno just fell back onto the hospital bed "Alright I can tell your all against me." and he just started at the ceiling.
Doctor Rayleigh just shook her head, but left satisfied that her patient would stay for now.
"Have you told him anything yet?" Cloud asked vaguely.
"No we were waiting for Doctor Rayleigh's word that the procedure went well." Rufus said, still sitting in his chair by the window. "We were going to start soon."
"What you me told me what?" Reno said taking his eyes off the ceiling and sitting back up. He was still adjusting to his new strength.
Tseng ran a hand through his hair and looked to Cloud. "You know it better than I do."
"You guys are start'n to make me nervous, it's not like it's the end of the world again right?" Reno gave out a half laugh.
"A little bit dramatic, but yes, it very well might be if we don't stop it." Cloud said looking right at the redhead.
"I shoulda known, if Yazoo was about, then Sephiroth can't be far behind, and where there's Sephiroth, there's Jenova and the end of the world." Reno shook his head.
"It started a few days go." Cloud started, his explanation , he wasn't sure how many times he had given it before. Reno to his credit as a Turk stayed silent absorbing the information given to him.
"So, Aerith and Zack didn't die, and the lifestream helped Sephiroth get his mind back, which pissed off Jenova, who's now trying to take out the world, but we don't know how." Reno said looking up at Cloud.
"Pretty much, you left out a few of the other details but that's the basics." Tseng acknowledged.
"So that means I wasn't dead when I saw Aerith?" Reno said finally realizing.
"No, she was the one who tried to keep you stable while we few back from Fort Condor." Cloud stated.
"Have to give 'er a hug then." Reno said with a grin.
"Sephiroth is actually currently out in the waiting room. Aerith and Zack, well that's another story." Cloud said.
"So wow." Reno said. "Just wow, and you really expect me to stay in here now."
"Yes I do, and If I have to make it an order I will." Rufus said.
"You're too cruel Boss." Reno said holding his hand over his heart as if he'd been injured.
"What are Zack and Aerith doing?" Tseng asked.
"This actually is probably the strangest thing yet." Cloud said shaking his head.
"Stranger then three people coming back from the dead?" Reno replied.
"We went to visit the church." Cloud said thoughtful. " It went as I expected, until we found two children in the church."
"What's so odd about finding two children in the church? I know it can be dangerous to get too, but it's not like the first time it would have happened." Rufus said looking at Cloud.
"Their names were Jadak and Angeal-and" Cloud said looking down. "It was them, we could see it. Angeal and Kadaj reborn as brothers. Sephiroth and Zack are as certain as I am. From what I gather their mother died either while giving birth to Jadak or shortly after. Jadak developed low level Mako poisoning and their father tried to get them to Edge for treatment and died."
"Your absolutely sure?" Tseng asked.
"As sure as I can be. Ask Sephiroth like I said he's in the waiting room." Cloud said pointing to the door.
"That won't be necessary." Tseng said.
"At this point there isn't much to do." Rufus said. "I assume you've gotten the boy treatment."
Cloud nodded. "Zack and Aerith are staying with them for now."
"Rufus is right, if they are being taken care of then that is all that can be done for now. We've got other things to focus on for the moment." Tseng said. "I'll stay here with Reno for the evening, you to go get some rest."
"Alright," Cloud said. "Glad to see you well Reno." Cloud said then left the room.
"See you in the morning." Rufus said slipping out himself.
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Aerith and Zack sat in the room with the two children. Jadak was sleeping quietly in the hospital bed and Angeal had crawled up with him.
"They are sweet aren't they?" Zack said with Aerith curled up with him on a small couch in the room.
"Yes they are." She said with a smile.
"You know, that I was going to ask you to marry me, before everything happened." He said serious for a moment.
"I do, and you know I would have said yes." She smiled.
"Would you still say yes?" He asked her.
"Of course, if you're asking now, the answer is yes. I just thought you might want to wait till all the craziness is over." She leaning over and giving him a soft kiss.
"I love you, and last time I waited I didn't get the chance to say anything." Zack said holding her tight.
"You asked here because of them right?" Aerith said softly.
"You can tell can't you?" Zack said with a sigh.
"Jadak already looks to me like a mother. I don't want to get their hopes up though, we'll be gone for a while helping Cloud and the others, we can't take them with us." She said.
"I know, and I thought about asking Cloud's friend to look after them for us, while were gone. She was nice, and I'm sure she would do it. Then when we get back, I want to be one big family." Zack said smiling at her, tears in the corner of his eyes.
"I think it would be wonderful, and a good thing to look forward too. Something to fight to come home to." She said sweetly.
"You really are the most wonderful girl in the world you know that right?" Zack said kissing her softly again.
"I think I'm a pretty lucky girl too." Aerith said before leaning back into him.
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Genesis sighed relaxing into Cloud's couch. Vincent had left him over an hour ago, and they had barely spoken a word since leaving the orphanage. Genesis could tell that Vincent was still apprehensive about leaving Weiss with Shelke but he seemed to have accepted their mutual decision. All and all it had gone better then Genesis thought it might. Heck, everything had gone better. Cloud made an excellent leader and done as he'd promised. Not only did he place his trust in them, but everyone else had too. The only one he had miss judged a bit had been Vincent and even then, Cloud had managed to keep the gunman at bay concerning Weiss.
He lay there, nearly asleep until door opened. He looked over to confirm that it was Cloud and Sephiroth re-entering the apartment. Cloud was checking his phone.
"I just got a message from Reeve, Kunsel and Cissinei arrived safe, but so far they haven't managed to get any more information. They are hoping to start fresh tomorrow." Cloud said to the two of them. The message had also been sent to Tseng and Rufus.
"I suppose then we should settle in for the night." Genesis said stretching a bit.
Sephiroth just looked at Cloud for a moment, Cloud made a move with his head and Sephiroth looked back to Genesis."We need to talk" The question of when the hell had Cloud and Sephiroth been able to communicate nonverbally crossed his mind.
"Can't it wait till morning, we haven't exactly slept well the last few days." Genesis asked, he could still be a bit of a diva when he wanted to be.
"I'm going to go shower, I'll be out shortly if you need me." Cloud said before heading to the bathroom.
Sephiroth just looked at him and nodded, damnit it was getting creepy Genesis thought, like spending too much time with the Turks. They probably didn't even realize they were doing it.
"It can't wait Genesis." Sephiroth said looking at his old friend. "You'd kill me, if I didn't tell you now. I'm sure you'll be angry I didn't call and tell you sooner."
"Well what is it. It can't be anymore Gaia-shattering than anything else the last few days." Genesis knew he was acting like a spoiled brat, but damnit he was tired.
"It's about Angeal, Gen" Sephiroth said using a nickname he hadn't heard in years. At the mention of Angeal Genesis suddenly sobered up. Sephiroth sat and placed his elbows on his knees.
"What about Angeal." Genesis said, now very interest in Sephiroth's worlds.
"Cloud talked me into going to the church with him Zack and Aerith. He'd kept the Buster Sword there and thought I might want to see it. It's a wonderfully peaceful and inviting place." Sephiroth said starting to explain. "There were two kids there Gen. The oldest couldn't have been more then 6 or 7 and Genesis." Sephiroth sounded more emotional then Genesis could remember. "Genesis, it was him. It was Angeal, only a child. Zack and I, we knew almost immediately. The boy with him, Cloud says it was the one Remnant, Kadaj, though the child goes by Jadak."
"Where are they now?" Genesis asked.
"At the hospital. Jadak was suffering from low level Mako poisoning. They wouldn't leave each other's side. Zack and Aerith are staying with them for the moment." Sephiroth said.
"You should have called me." Genesis said.
"There wasn't really a good time. We didn't want to frighten the children or make them think we were helping them because of who we thought they were. They were frightened enough as it was. Apparently its common practice to "dispose" of children with Jadak's condition in some of the outlying villages." Sephiroth said with disgust." The villagers are frightened of them, scared they might mutate, they don't understand what's happened to them. They wouldn't come near us till Cloud made Angeal look into his eyes so he could see the Mako. Cloud assumes their father was bring them here for treatment when he died. When we left the kids, they were resting, and I did not relish having this conversation with you over the phone. I made Cloud promise to let me tell you alone" Sephiroth finished.
Genesis just sighed himself. "I wanted to see him again. I had half hoped when Minvera and the Lifestream started to restore the three of you, she would restore Angeal too. I suppose seeing him as a child, it will be interesting, I wonder if it will be like I remember. I always thought he'd be a good big brother. "
"Cloud did manage to snap a picture, I figured if anyone could confirm it for us 100% it would be you." Sephiroth said pulling out Cloud's phone and showing it to Genesis.
Genesis sat there and stared. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought this was a shot of his friend from 20 years ago, with another random child. Tears in his eyes he turned away and handed Sephiroth back the phone, before saying "Its him, I'd know him anywhere."
Genesis and Sephiroth sat in silence after that thinking of an old friend. Cloud left them quietly as he slipped back to his room letting the night move on.
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The night did indeed move on, sleep had fallen over most of the group. It was while he was asleep that Tseng's phone started buzzing in his pocket about 2 am. He slipped out of the room, as to not wake Reno before answering.
"Tseng speaking."
"Sir, I'm sorry to wake you, but it's an emergency." One of Tseng's Turks reported to him.
"Out with it." he demanded.
"We just picked up the transmission of a encrypted Morse code message. When we ran it through the ciphers it was discovered it was sent from the automatic relay box in the Helicopter assigned to the team investigating the Forgotten City sir. " said the Turk on the other end of the phone.
Tseng knew what it meant and his blood ran cold. It had been 12 hours since the team, Rude and Elena, had been able to touch base with the machine either through physical or transmitted means. It was a sign he had been dreading but waiting for all the same. "Thank you, I'll gather a response team and we'll head out as soon as we are able."
"Yes sir, we'll be on standby." stated the Turk before ending the call.
Tseng immediately took out his phone and started making more phone calls.
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I can't believe this story has already hit 12 chapters and over 35,000 words and I feel like I've just got started with the story I want to tell. I hope you all enjoy it. The next few days are going to be crazy for me though, so don't expect as many updates. Please review! It really does make my day when I read them.
