Chapter 20:
The airship was on its way now to the next destination. Fort Condor. Lilie was being very quiet as she sat off to the side, watching clouds whiz by. She was thinking about everything that was happening now. She was worried about Rufus. She hoped that he wasn't doing something rash, as always. She knew he was probably very frantic right now. She only wished that there was some way of getting a message to him, to let him know that she was just fine.
Eventually, she closed her eyes, not really knowing that she fell asleep. She was dreaming about being back with Rufus, taking a walk along the beaches of Costa Del Sol, smiling and laughing with him. She was also see Reno and Rude, swimming in the water. They were having a water fight with Elena and Tseng. Even Avalanche were there, smiling and throwing water at one another. She almost laughed when she saw Vincent wearing bathing trunks and actually enjoying himself. She couldn't really see him doing that in real life.
But then, it got very cold.
Dark clouds were rolling over the sky, darkening every light. The cheerfullness in the air had vanished and she could feel fear and destruction. She was wearing her Turk uniform, jerking around in circles, trying to find the others, for they had vanished. "Rufus!" She cried out. "Tifa, Cloud!" She spun around and around in circles, trying to find them. She was in the darkness. She could hear screams and insane laughter. The laughter of Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth! Stop it!" She screamed. "Stop trying to destroy the Planet! Why are you doing this?!"
"Because I can!"
She gasped as she turned around and saw Sephiroth standing before her, swinging his blood stained Masamune. "Sephiroth! I thought we were friends!" She yelled towards him. A hated look appeard on Sephiroth's face. "How can I be friends with a pathedic human like you?!" he snarled. Lilie felt hurt. "But...but you saved my life from those men years ago. You promised."
"I did nothing of the sort." The insane silver haired man snarled before he waved his hand.
Instantly, her dream transformed back into the past where she was a little girl. Getting attacked in HoneyBee Inn. She was getting raped in her dream. And Sephiroth, nor Reno or Rude, or any of Reno's friends came. She was all alone. Until she saw a sudden flash of Meteor falling down towards her, smashing her into the ground.
Lilie gasped sharply as she jerked awake. It was quite dark all around her, and just by looking out the window, she knew that it was night. The airship was parked just outside the Fort Condor. And by the looks of it, the others had already gotten a hold of the Huge Materia, after all, the two large colorful stones were right in front of her. It was clear that Cid had decided that the Highwind needed a break from flying. And Lilie was sure that he was granting all of his crew a break from working the entire time.
She could hear snores in the very room she was in and when she looked around she noticed that she wasn't the only one who fell asleep in the cockpit. Cid was leaning against the wall, near the helm, snoring quite loudly. But he seemed to be the only one that was alseep in the cockpit. The others must have gone to their rooms. That is until she heard someone walking towards her.
"Lilie?"
Lilie jumped a little when she heard someone whisper her name. She looked over to see glowing yellow eyes and it creeped her out a little until Red XIII came out of the darkness. She could see the glow of his fire tipped tail. She relaxed when she saw him completely.
"Lilie, are you okay?" Red XIII whispered as he moved over to her side. The young Turk breathed in deeply, before shaking her head. "Yeah. I'm all right. It was just a dream." She whispered right back. The lion creature sat down next to her, looking at her curiously. "Do you want to share your night stories?"
That made Lilie smile but she shook her head. "No. That's okay. It's all right." She said gently, before rubbing her stomache. "What time is it? Did I miss the next Huge Materia?" Though she already knew that she had. Red XIII nodded as he flicked his tail in the direction of the Huge Materia. "Yes. Cid, Yuffie and Vincent went to get them this time. There was another fight with Shinra, but they got the materia without seriously hurting someone."
Lilie slowly nodded as she leaned against the metal frame before looking out the window at the bright white full moon. She sighed deeply as she just stared at it.
"You miss him." Again, she looked at Red XIII. "Rufus Shinra."
Lilie nodded as she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged herself. "Yes. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to him." She whispered. She shivered a little from two reasons. One, she was cold and the other because she was remembering her dream. Red XIII seemed to guess the first because he stood up and moved very closer her, nudging her to get behind her. Lilie frowned as she scooted forward to let him get behind her then to her surprise, the lion laid down, looking at her with bright eyes. She figured out what he was trying to do. With a smile, she laid back, her head on the lion's soft and warm side. "Thanks, Red."
"Call me Nanaki. It's my real name." The lion said closing his eyes.
Lilie smiled even more. "All right...Nanaki." And she closed her own eyes, curling a little closer to him before drifting off to sleep.
The morning came too quick for Lilie but she wasn't too bothered by it. She had been awoken by the rumbling of Highwind's engines and Cid was already ordering everyone around. Lilie groaned as she sat up, letting Red XIII get up and shake himself off. She just stretched before climbing to her own feet, cracking her back a little.
"Was that floor really comfortable enough for you to sleep on?" She heard Yuffie ask.
The Turk smiled over at the ninja girl and then shrugged. "Actually, surprisingly, yes. It wasn't that bad." She stretched again before looking around at everyone else. "So. Where to next?"
"We're going back to Mideel to check on Tifa and Cloud." Vincent said quietly.
Barret nodded as he went over to his spot, which was where Lilie had slept. It was more than likely he had been waiting for her to wake up so he could get his spot back. "That poor girl. She must be having a fit over him righ' 'bout now."
Lilie nodded before she looked over at Cait Sith, who switched himself on. She walked over to him, giving him a faint smile. "Morning, Cait. Can I ask you for a favor?"
The cat was stretching just like any cat would do before he stood up on his hind legs and nodded. "Sure thing, Lil. Whatcha need?"
"How's Rufus doing?" She asked very quietly.
The cat paused for a long time. It was more than likely he was asking himself that very same thing, though Lilie knew that Cait Sith was actually contacting Reeve to find out. After a minute, the cat sighed. "He's well and healthy but he's not good. He's been in a very pissy fit when he found about what's going on with the Huge Materia. I don't think that he knows that you're with us, taking them from him. He's just been cursing Avalanche."
Lilie smiled before she shook her head. "Well, here's the favor then. Tell him that I'm doing just fine, Avalanche has released me and hasn't hurt me and tell him that I am the one taking the Huge Materia."
Cait Sith frowned. "Lilie, are you sure you want me to tell him that? What if he doesn't believe me?"
"He'll believe you if you give him our little code." Lilie said with a growing smile.
The cat frowned, tilting his head. "And that code is?"
"Tough titty said the rough kitty." She laughed when she watched the cat's eyes snap wide open and he nearly fell of the large Mog.
The airship had finally arrived on Mideel and everyone was debating on what to do. They really wanted to go find out if Tifa and Cloud were okay but they were also very worried about what kind of state Tifa was in. Eventually Lilie told them all to stop worrying and to get straightened up. Everyone laughed after that. So they all went towards the Clinic, together.
They found Tifa in the exact same spot where they had left her, kneeling in front of Cloud. She was looking very tired and hopeless. The doctor and the nurse looked just as tired and hopeless. "I'm sorry...but your friend's condition remains unchanged..." The doctor sighed. "You'll have to be patient and wait this out. These things take time. Just like fine wine, time is of the essence." he shook his head as if he didn't even believe his own words. Lilie wasn't really listening to him anymore. She went into the next room and looked down at Tifa, who was staring into Cloud's bobbing face.
"...it's no use..." The tired martial artist whispered. "I don't understand a thing, Cloud. What should I do...? What if you never recover for the rest of your life?" She lowered her head and closed her eyes.
Suddenly there was a loud rumble and the entire island started shaking. Tifa gasped as she fell back onto the ground, while the others looked around with shock. Lilie had caught herself onto one of the medical beds. "What the?!" She heard Barret exclaimed. But she wasn't looking at him. Instead she watched Cloud's head stop bobbing and he looked straight at her.
"...They're...They're...coming...!" He moaned loudly.
"What? Who's coming?!" Lilie asked as she held onto the medical bed. She heard the door slam open. "Damn. What the hell's goin' on?!" She heard Cid curse before he and the others raced out. With only a glance at Cloud and Tifa, Lilie hurried out after him.
They rushed outside and looked around. People were running around and screaming. And some kind of liquid was now pushing its way out of the ground. "What's this?! The Lifestream is gushing up from below the surface of the Earth!" Cid exclaimed with horror. Lilie jumped back as she watched a small stream of of the Lifestream squirted out from where her foot used to be. They all then heard some kind of moan. Almost like something inhuman was crying. "Damn, that's...?! This is bad!!" Cid again yelled out.
"Cid!" They all turned to see Tifa standing in the doorway. "What's wrong?!"
Cid shook his head. "No-nothin'!! You and Cloud get inside quick!" He yelled to her. Tifa looked hesitant. "But I..."
"Go inside, Tifa! We'll be all right!" Lilie called to her.
Tifa nodded. "Be careful!" She called before disappearing back inside the building. The group of Avalanche and the Turk turned around and ran into the town square looking around. "Okay! Here we go! Watch this!!" Cid yelled as he pulled out his spear.
It was at that second something very big flew across the sky. They all looked up to see Weapon. "Damn! That friggen Weapon! Of all times to show up!!" Cid exclaimed angrily. Lilie gritted her teeth as she pulled out her Psis. She saw the others doing the same thing. "Let's get rid of it once and for all!" She yelled. Everyone nodded and stood ready to fight. "Okay! Come on, you fuck!!" Cid roared into the sky.
"Yeah! You giant sack of scale guts!" Yuffie screeched. Red XIII roared his challenge to the Weapon. Both Barret and Vincent began firing their bullets at it while Lilie glared up at it in an icy way, the light reflecting off her blades. The Ultimate Weapon roared before it dove down at them.
It came way too fast that everyone had to scatter as it slammed into the ground where they had been. Immediately everyone began to attack the Weapon at once. Lilie ran up to the Weapon and began slashing it with her Psis as fast and hard as she could manage. The others were throwing attacks after attacks. The Weapon roared before swinging its giant tail at them, knocking everyone back. Lilie flew into tree with a painful cry. She gasped as the air had been knocked out of her lungs but she gritted her teeth and went back for more.
All of the Avalanche members moved as fast as they could. Red XIII was leaping everywhere, biting and clawing at the Weapon's tough skin. Cid was stabbing his spear everywhere he could manage. Yuffie flung her Crystal Cross as hard as she could, slashing it as Lilie was doing the same. Cait Sith was pounding the monster with its strong arms while Barret and Vincent were taking shots after shots after shots.
Finally the Weapon roared with fury and took to the air. It gave them all a very nasty look as it flew upward. "Ha! Beat ya!" Yuffie said, gasping from exhaustion. Lilie was heaving for air as she stood a little slumped over. "You fucker! You tryin' to escape?" Cid laughed. The Weapon just gave its tail a sharp slice at the air before turning and flying away. Barret laughed heartily, still aiming his gunarm into the air. "Damn, man! Just a little bit more an' I wouldda smashed him..." he growled cheerfully. Lilie laughed as she slid her Psis away. "No joke there! We beat his ass black an' blue!" She said trying to mimic Barret's voice. The big black man only grinned down at her.
"It looks like the Lifestream has settled as well." Red XIII said looking around.
There was a long pause before the ground started shaking making everyone look around frantically. Lilie gasped as she slipped and fell onto her rear end. Vincent jerked around and rushed over to her side. "Lilie!" he said as bent down to one knee and placed his golden claw on her shoulder.
"Damn, you gotta be kiddin'...!!" Cid exclaimed.
The ground only shook harder making everyone stagger across the ground and Lilie tried her best to get to her feet. "Th, this's bad!! The main stream is kickin' up!! Somethin' way bigger than that last one is on its way up!!" Cid exclaimed. "Get outta here!!!"
Everyone started running towards the Highwind. "But what about Tifa and Cloud?!" Red XIII roared.
Lilie quickly jerked on her heel and started running for the clinic. "Just go! I'll get them!" She yelled.
"Lilie!" She heard Vincent yell after her.
"Goddammit!! You don't have time to worry about anyone other than yourself! You don't know when that stream'll blow!!!" Cid yelled after her. Lilie ignored them, pausing half way up to the clinic. "Just run! We'll be fine! GO!" She screamed to them. The others just nodded and began running as fast as they could out of the town.
"Tifa! Get out of there! It's going to blow!" Lilie screamed as she ran towards the clinic. She gasped as the ground under her started cracking. "Damn it!" She cried out.
A minute later, the doctor and the nurse ran out of the building soon followed by Tifa, pushing Cloud's wheelchair. "Come on! Let's get away from the town!" Lilie screamed as she turned and started to run with Tifa and Cloud.
Suddenly the ground under them really began to crack and the boiling green liquid began to push up like lava, blocking their path. Tifa and Lilie both screamed as they were forced to stop and brace theirselves as they began to slip and slid against the cobblestones. "NO!" Lilie screamed before she fell to the ground and began to roll. "CLOUD! LILIE!" Tifa screamed as she fell with the two.
They were instantly swallowed up by the Lifestream they had fallen in. Lilie felt the searing pain of the liquid as it began to burn her. She tightly closed her eyes and clenched her mouth shut. 'I'm going to die! I'm never going to see Rufus again! This is so unfair! NO!' She screamed into her mind. And then darkness surrounded her.