Ok, for those of you wondering why i'm updating early [except you Lauren] i've decided if i am going to get this story up before next year i've got to update four or three every week so from now on, not only will i update on saterday but wensday too. enjoy

Don't own FF7 except shelk Kisala and Loki.

Part one

Chapter nineteen:

Sephiroth opened his eyes only to shut them again as he gazed up at a bright light. Was he dead? He moved his finger and groaned as pain shot up his arm; no it hurt too much to be dead.

He moved his eyes away from the light and noticed red hair and blue eyes

"Kisala" he croaked out, why did his throat feel so dry.

Said woman perked up and noticed he was awake, she grinned and left his line of sight, before returning this time with Genesis, Angeal and Shelk.

"Glad you are awake" Angeal said but it felt like his ears were stuffed with cotton.

He narrowed his eyes and Kisala was suddenly helping him into a sitting position. What had happened where was he?

"You're in the hospital" Genesis said and he turned his eyes to the man; that was one question down "you've been in here a week"

His throat didn't feel so tight and his ears weren't clogged. He tried to think back, what had he be doing to get Him in the hospital…he remembered going on a mission with Zack…he lurched forward as it came flooding back.

"Where's Zack and Cloud" he demanded forcing his voice to work "What happened"

They looked at one another than at him and he narrowed his eyes.

"Nibelheim burned to the ground, when we found you everyone one was dead, Zack and Cloud were missing and you muttered something about Hojo and Loki." Kisala said brushing pieces of his hair out of his face.

He nodded and thought back just as Shelk said

"Who's Loki?" he groaned as he remembered

"Hojo created a clone of me, I think maybe several and he's the only successful one." The others growled "his name was Loki; he was looking for mother or Jenova."

Genesis nodded

"In the reactor there was a lab with Jenova carved above the door, the labs trashed, seemed this Loki and Zack got into some big battle there. His sword and yours marks were all over the walls."

Sephiroth grabbed his head as he continued

"He was waiting for me, Hojo planned this, and he wanted all of us distracted lately so he could plant the stuff then wanted all of you gone while I was. Hojo wanted the Clone to kill me and take my place, but the Clone had different plans." He rubbed his face in annoyance.

The others frowned at this, Hojo was missing still, and that meant where ever he was; Zack and Cloud were too. Sephiroth looked at Shelk and remembered something Loki had said.

"He mentioned you, Shelk" said girl looked startled and Genesis growled "he said her Clan was to take care of Jenova, he also listed things he said belonged to your name."

Shelk bit her lip and nodded for him to continue, maybe this was the clue as to why Icicle inn hated her family.

"Caller of Jenova, carriers of her legacy…" he frowned for a minute "caretakers of mother and murders of the Cetra."

Shelk jumped back, her family murders the ancients and called Jenova or whatever. She felt someone wrap and arm around her in a hug and she realized she was crying. This was the clue to her dream…the blue woman.

"It can't be" She said to herself "murders of the ancients, my family" she shook her head. "No wonder Icicle inn hates us, I'm being punished for their sin, that's why I'm blind; Gaea is punishing me" she cried in to her hands; genesis and Kisala trying to comfort her.

Sephiroth frowned and looked at them.

"We have to rescue Cloud and Zack" he said.

"But where?" asked Angeal

"There's a lab underneath the ShinRa manor" he told them "I lived there for a bit when I was a child, it's in a secret entrance." He noticed their faces and his fear rose.

The other three elite looked at one another in horror

"We found you in Nibelheim" Kisala said "the only place we didn't go look was the manor, no one had lived there for a long time, we didn't know." She bowed her head and sighed angrily.

He nodded in understand, he knew they couldn't have known, but he still felt angry, they had been so close without knowing it. Gaea only knew what Hojo was doing to them. He went to stand only to be pushed back down by two sets of hands. He growled at them.

"What are you doing, we have to go to ShinRa manor" he snarled

"We can't" Kisala said "Someone convinced president ShinRa you're insane for burning the town down and killing everyone and we're likely insane as well and if the people heard he let a 'mad' man on the loose they would withdraw from ShinRa." She scoffed at this idea.

Sephiroth growled as Genesis spoke next.

"None of us can go anywhere without five second escorts, we are guarded at all times" he sneered at the door and Sephiroth looked up to see two guards just in the doors view. He was sure more were in the hall.

"He can't do this, Zack and Cloud" Sephiroth said frustrated though he knew it was hopeless, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Shelk, finally having calmed down whispered

"I am going to listen to all missions for any word on them, if any rumors pop up I will let you all know" she frowned at Kisala "I'm worried about Aerith though" Kisala nodded

"I hope we finding them soon" Sephiroth muttered, everyone agreed, "real soon" he added.

Zack woke to hear Angeal telling him he tarnished the SOLDIER name and flying off. He screamed, wishing he too had wings so he could get out of this place. Whatever he was in was green and he could guess it was Mako. He looked over and in another tank was Cloud. This wasn't good; Cloud had only had the first operation so if he was exposed to too much Mako at one time; he could get Mako poisoning. He began writing on the glass as his vision when out again.

"Don't worry Spiky" he whispered "we're getting out".

He lay there on the floor as he came to…he could hear footsteps, now was the time to get out. As he stood and punched the doctor he vaguely noticed he was glowing green. He walked over to Cloud, shaking his fist as the glow faded.

He went up to the glass and pounded it but all it did was rattling and hurt his hands. He looked to the side and saw a lever, pulling it, it drained the Mako water and Cloud fell out.

"Cloud!" he said catching him. He leaned Cloud on the wall and grabbed his sword that he noticed was on the far wall. Going to the doctor he knocked out he searched and found a key card. He swung Cloud over his shoulder to help him walk. He looked at the boys half lidded eyes and cursed

"Mako poisoning, we really should have made you get the second operation before we left" he whispered to the boy as they walked. Zack had to stop and go clear the way before he and Cloud could proceed several times before they got to the upper levels of the House.

He hid them in one of the rooms and laid Cloud on the bed. He found a SOLDIER outfit Cloud could change into; if he had Mako poisoning staying in that Mako doused cloths wasn't going to help... They got outside and Zack took in a deep breath of fresh air.

They slowly made their way to where the town rubble probably was. The fire had probably burned itself out last night Zack assumed. However once they got to where the town was, was when he noticed it looked brand new, as if it had never burned down in the first place.

"What's going" he told Cloud "I saw the town reduced to ash, it looks exactly the same." He growled when he noticed SOLDIERS running at them, third class or grunts maybe.

"It's a breakout" one called out, the leader; he narrowed his eyes and pulled out his sword. With Cloud like this, he wasn't going anywhere any time fast.

After defeating the SOLDIERs Zack grabbed his head and fell to his knees. The spinning and he felt like throwing up.

"Whoa, what's wrong with me today" he muttered, maybe it was the tank. He shouldn't have been tired from these guys.

He grabbed Cloud and went back to the manor; they both were still a little weak so he was going to rest until dark. He grinned at the uniform he had placed Cloud in earlier; now really noticing what it was.

"Hey, the first class uniform looks good on you" he told Cloud with a grin, the boy didn't respond. He turned and shoved his hands into his pocket. He frowned when he felt something; he pulled out a paper and looked at it trying to remember where it came from.

"Aerith" he whispered, yeah, right before he left Aerith wrote down all of her wishes, all twenty three. He grinned, he really loved that girl. He opened the note expecting to see the wishes list but saw a note instead.

I have twenty three tiny wishes, but you probably won't remember them all, so I put them all together in to one; I'd like to spend more time with you

He smiled and put the note back in his pocket

"Hey" he told Cloud "I've got to go to Midgar" he turned "you want to come with me?" of course Cloud didn't say anything but he was sure he would.

As Dark came around, they traveled back through Nibelheim which still looked strange to him. He paused as more SOLDIERs ran at them. Hiding Cloud he went to greet them. They continued all the way out the town and into the wilderness.

After running into Cisseni and her covering for them, Zack had a bad feeling, how long had he and Cloud been in there, weeks, Months, or Years? Gaea he hopped not. He looked at the keys to the motorcycle Cisseni had given him. He looked at Cloud, grinning, and threw the keys into the air, catching them when they came back down.

He smiled as they road across the bridge, this way he didn't have to go through the Corel prison. If he could get to a port like Gongaga, he could get on a cargo ship and get to Junon and back to Midgar. He grinned as he sped up.

They reached Gongaga smoothly but Zack almost cried when he saw the town.

"Oh Cloud" he said looking at the ruble of buildings around him, seemed as if the reactor had gone and blown. "I hope my parents are ok" as he left the bike behind, he ran into Cisseni again.

They eyed each other when an idea came to him.

"Do you think you could alert Shelk" he asked the Turk who only shook her head.

"They're being watched, her, Kisala, Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth" she smiled at his grin

"So he's ok" Zack asked

She shrugged

"I wouldn't say ok, last I heard he was storming around demanding to go to Nibelheim to look for you and the other one." She nodded her head in the direction of Cloud.

"Oh, OK" he said crestfallen then looked away "My mom" he asked "how is she?"

"She's worried" Cisseni said "she thinks after all this you won't be able to find a wife" she giggled at the look on his face.

"What's up with that" he said.

"They're nice people" she told him softly "and their doing fine."

"Good" he said "that's all I need to know" he nodded to the Turk.

"Oh" she said "I've got something for you, from Aerith, she gives most of them to Tseng but she gave this one to me" she pulled a paper from her suit pocket and handed it to him.

He looked confused as she walked off, waving with out looking. He frowned and opened the letter.

How are you, I wish knew where you where, it's already been four years now, this is the 89th letter that I've sent to you but I don't even know where to send them anymore. I really hope this final letter that I'm writing gets to you. By the way, the flowers are selling very well; they make everyone so happy thanks to you Zack.

Aerith

His eyes widened as he read, and reread over her letter, 89, four years, they had been in those tanks for FOUR YEARS. He frowned as tears gathered in his eyes.

"What do you mean final!" he shouted, she had given up on him, and she thought he was never coming back. He rubbed his face

"Well we'll just have to prove her wrong" he walked back to Cloud and nudged the boy "you and I are getting home" he started the bike.

They got to a port city and Zack was able to barter for a ride with the motorcycle. As they came closer to Junon he mentally thanked Cisseni again and smiled as the sun rose. Looking at Cloud he grinned at the boy

"Almost home buddy, almost home."

Shelk sat at her desk listening into her head set as the Turks set out for their mission; Tseng had her listening to this mission personally for some reason. Even after four years, a glimmer of hope welled into her heart, could Tseng know something more then he let on.

"The SOLDIERs are being sent out as are the Turks" her assistant told her and she nodded.

Giving them the cue to switch to radio, Reno and Cassini's voices filled her ears as she sat back and waited.

Sephiroth stared at the paperwork he was filing out; he glared at it, hoping it would combust. Genesis was in the corner filing away while Angeal stared out the window in the office. A guard was at the door again, just like one had been for Four years.

He folded his hand together and leaned on them, his forehead pressing against his skin.

"Gaea, Zack please let you and Cloud be ok" he prayed

Kisala sat in the pews of Aerith's church. This was one of the rare opportunity's she got to hang with the girl…woman. She had grown in four years. She still wore the ribbon Zack had given her but now she wore a pink dress with a red jacket over it. Her boots were brown and her hair was still pulled back.

She looked at her book, not really seeing the words. She missed Zack and Cloud. Aerith had given up on Zack after the 89th letter that was never returned and she had a feeling Tseng didn't know where to send them either.

She looked up at the sun praying, hoping, that the two would be alright and make it home.

next chapter will be the end of part one, so saterday part two will start. so review, Lauren!