Okayyy, I can't stand it again, so I'm updating...again. You know the drill: Replies, then story X]

animecookiefairy: See? Then you never have to be tranquiziled because YOU hold the weapon, and the power! XD And, yesh, you should slap Zack and Kiku (a.k.a. me XD) As for your prediction about who Cloud was talking about... *grin* Well, you'll see... You should start working on your fanfic again! But that is sort of strange that right when you stopped writing yours, you started reading mine O.o haha Ooh, thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try that!

ShatterTheHeavens: Wise words, indeed, my loverly reader hahaha You'll just have to see if they come true or not!

A'ight, let's get this show on the road! Kind of a shorter chapter, but important! (At least, I think so, anyway...) Chapter 21 it is! (This is one is 21-like XD ((animecookiefairy)) )

-Chapter 21-

Kiku

Anna and Clay weren't dumb. I'd known that from the first time I'd met them. So there was no use hiding my confusion from them. I had to tell them what had happened. I owed it to them as their friend, and as my friends.

I stayed awake until the bar closed some time after midnight, thinking of how I would explain what had happened in the church that day. I stood from my bed when I heard them coming up the stairs.

They stopped in the hallway when I came out of my room. We all looked at each other in silence for a few moments.

I nodded into my room, signaling for them to follow me.

They followed me inside, and Clay closed the door behind her. I sat down on my bed, and they did as well.

More silence for several long seconds.

"So what happened?" Clay finally asked.

I exhaled. "I...I'm not quite sure myself." My voice was surprisingly quiet. I cleared my throat. "I...I went to go see Aerith. At the church in Sector 5, you know?"

They nodded.

"And...everything was fine, I thought. She was glad that I was okay, she was taking care of the flowers, I was looking at the sky... It all seemed too normal or something.

"Then this...thing flew down through the roof. It looked like a wolf, but it had wings, one bigger than the other, and it looked armored. It looked familiar, too. Zack said it was an Angeal copy.

"Anyway, so I was all ready to fight it, you know? Had my sword drawn and everything. Then...it started...talking to me..."

They looked at me.

"The wolf...opened its mouth and talked to you?" Anna asked.

I shook my head. "No. It was...talking to me with its...mind."

I looked at them, measuring their reactions. Clearly, they were shocked.

I stood, slapping my hands on my thighs and shaking my head. "I know, it sounds totally impossible, but...it's true. And...I was talking back."

"How...?" Clay didn't finish her question.

I shook my head. "I don't know..."

"Well, what did it tell you?" Anna asked.

"It said...that it had come there looking for me. That...I was an Ancient. One of the last left in the world."

"What's an Ancient?" Anna asked.

"Search me," I said. "I have no idea."

"Did it say anything else?" Clay asked.

"Well, I asked it what an Ancient was, and it said, 'Well, you're the one communicating telepathicaly with a monster. Shouldn't you know?' I asked it if it was Angeal, but it just said, 'Well, now...who could say?'

"Then it asked me if I was friends with Zack. I told it I was. It said, 'Good. Stay close to him. He'll protect you.' I basically said I didn't need protecting, and that Zack had already saved me once.

"It said, 'Be that as it may, there may come a time in the future when you will once again need his protection, no matter the cost to him.'"

"What the heck does that mean?" Anna asked quietly, shaking her head.

"I asked it that, too." I told them what the creature had said about the world changing, and lives at stake, lives lost. How I would help to rid the world of evil, about my abilities.

"A vital cog in a complicated mechanism?" Clay asked, in an "Are you serious?" way.

"Yeah," I said, laughing once. "That's what I said. And it just said that...I would get my answers soon."

"Well, that's a load of help to you, isn't it?" Clay asked dryly.

"Isn't it?" I sighed. "So...that's what happened."

Clay nodded.

Anna looked at me.

"What is it, Anna?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's just...well, if what that thing said is true -that you are an Ancient and you have these...abilities-, shouldn't you be trying to...for lack of a better phrase, hone your abilities?"

"I was thinking that, too," I said, "but I haven't the faintest idea where to start."

"Well, you said you felt really tired after you talked to the creature, right?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I almost passed out on the way back here, actually."

"So maybe you just have to concentrate on someone or something, and you can hear that person or that thing's thoughts."

"Sounds logical to me," Clay said.

"But where does that leave me?" I asked. "I can't exactly just go around staring at people, trying to hear their thoughts. They might start to wonder, you know..."

"You've got us," Anna said, standing from the bed.

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Clay said, standing next to Anna. "We'll be your test subjects!"

I looked at them for a moment, then felt a smile spread across my face. "You guys are totally awesome. Have I told you that?"

"Thanks," they said, smiling.

I shook my head a little. "But we still don't know what an Ancient is," I said. "How are we going to figure that out?"

Anna hit Clay on the shoulder, her signal for, "Wait, I've got an idea."

Clay nodded, and I assumed they were thinking the same thing.

"Shinra," Clay said.

"What?" I asked.

"Shinra must know," she said. "After all, they created the SOLDIER operatives. Maybe that has something to do with it. They must know something. Shinra knows everything."

Well, that is true, I thought. "Yeah, great, but how are we gonna get into those files?"

Anna grinned. "Well, it just so happens we have an 'in' to the Shinra data files, don't we?"

I smiled again, nodding, realizing what they meant. I'd sneak into Shinra again, and get into the data room to look around. I could hack computers with the best of 'em. Piece of cake!

We just couldn't let Zack or Cloud know right off. Couldn't have them getting in trouble, now could we?

"Brilliant," I said.

"Of course it is," Clay said. Anna playfully smacked her shoulder, and she grinned.

I smiled and nodded. "Alright. Zack said he was coming back here tomorrow, so I can't go then. He'd suspect something. We'll wait until the day after tomorrow."

"It's a plan," Anna said.

It was corny, but we put our hands out, stacking them one on top of the other. Then we smiled at each other.

Operation: Kiku

Operatives:

-K.O. - supposed Ancient

Objectives: Hone telepathic abilities

Sneak into Shinra Headquarters to discover information on beings known as Ancients

-A.L. - mild-mannered Bar Owner

Objectives: Act as test subject for K.O.'s abilities experiments

Distract Z.F. from Mission Objectives if need be

-C.T. - mild-mannered Doctor

Objectives: Act as test subject along with A.L.

Check K.O.'s blood samples against her own and A.L.'s for differences

Help A.L. distract Z.F. from Mission Objectives

Mission will fail if SOLDIER operative Z.F. or Infantryman C.S. discover Mission Objectives. C.S. may be able to be convinced not to tell Z.F., but Mission Progress will tell for sure.

K.O.'s Secret Objective: Figure out what dreams mean, and see if Shinra files can shed any light as to their meaning.

I smiled at these two girls, my friends. What would I do without them? I thought. I just told them about the craziest thing I've ever had happen to me, and they immediately start thinking of ways to help me. How great are they?

We all smiled at each other and nodded.

Ready? ...Break.