The helicopter ride to Modeoheim was, to put it lightly, awkward. Zack was mad, which was rare, and he was trying to fight with Nadia, but she barely acknowledged him. To Tseng, it was funny. He even chuckled.

Finally, after forty-five minutes, Zack calmed and he stared Nadia in the eye. "Harley," he began as quietly as he could while still being heard over the helicopter, "what did I do wrong? Just tell me so I can fix it."

For a moment, Nadia considered refusing to tell him, but that would have taken it too far so instead, she muttered, "You didn't care."

"Care?" Zack gave a sigh, relieved that he was finally getting somewhere with this conversation though so far it wasn't much progress. He leaned forward and continued speaking. "What do you mean I didn't care? I obviously I do otherwise I wouldn't be putting so much effort into making things right again."

She glanced over at Tseng - who was piloting the helicopter - and the infantryman who was not Cloud. "I fear that I cannot say in present company."

"Tseng and the army dudes? They don't care."

Nadia and Tseng made eye contact during which time the latter smirked superciliously.

"I cannot. Though I wish I could." Her eyes narrowed at a random spot on the ground. Something occurred to her, and she looked up into Zack's eyes. They glowed faintly for an instant from the excitement of being able to look her in the face for the first time in almost two months, than they dimmed. Hers didn't glow in the first place. "When we were in the slums, you did not care about the elevator. You only saw someone else and I was nothing but a passing fancy."

"What do you mean?"

"She's all you see, and I am the old toy that you no longer have any interest in playing with, not while you have the other."

Tseng chuckled and Cloud glared at him for belittling his friend's emotions.

"I- I don't understand," Zack stuttered at the top of his lungs.

"She's jealous!" Tseng shouted, without looking back, but laughing loudly.

Zack was going to respond, but didn't get a chance. Before he could even open his mouth the helicopter shook dangerously as something bounced off the side.

"What was that!?" Nadia yelled.

"A monster is attacking! Everyone, secure yourselves."

Two people - Cloud and Zack - instantly leapt to Nadia's side to assist her in anyway necessary. As the copter shook jolted again, she instinctively grabbed onto the stronger of the two at her disposal - Zack. She would regret that later, but for now, she was scared and he was a big, strong, muscular guy. Zack wrapped his arms around her, and in the back of his mind, he was thinking about how good she smelled. He shook his head roughly, trying to rid himself of that thought. Then they were falling. Tseng was trying to pull them in for a crash landing on the side of a mountain. Everything was shaking and the alarms were sounding. The lights flickered, there was a loud crash and everything went black.

Zack was the first to emerge from the chopper, unharmed for the most part. He brushed some snow roughly from his clothing. Despite choosing to wear his winter uniform which was designed to combat the cold, he could still feel the frigidity of the snow through his jacket. "Harley! Tseng! Army guys!" Zack called against the wind. After a few moments of silence, up popped Tseng and one of the infantrymen.

Tseng threw down the radio receiver. "No signal," he mumbled.

Zack threw around a frantic glance. "Harley!"

"I'm right here!" her voice sounded and a few moments later she and Cloud hobbled out from behind the helicopter, the prior waving a red pump and first aid kit above her head. At first, Zack feared that she was limping, but it was just the misbalance from one foot being four inches further above the ground than the other and necessitated Cloud's holding of her elbow for support. "I'm okay," she assuaged and Zack's brow which had lowered and became stiff, softened.

"That's good." His stance further relaxed, but he could still sense the hostility and discretion in Nadia's. He would have to further investigate this matter, out of Tseng's and the infantrymen's ear shots. Nevertheless, he conjured up something that resembled a gung-ho attitude and said, "Well, it looks like we all got out pretty much unscathed somehow. So, it should all work out."

"Maintain your body temperature," was all that Nadia said in response and with a heavy shudder.

Zack shrugged himself out of his jacket and held it out to her. "Here."

She looked away. "I cannot accept. It would be severely inappropriate."

"You're the one who said to keep our body temperatures up. Just take it. What were you thinking? You'll freeze to death. That's really no way to dress in Modeoheim."

"Yes, I acknowledge that, however, I was uninformed of the requirement of my presence on this mission let alone the destination."

Zack didn't retract his offer; instead his face grew more intense and insistent. He brandished the coat in front of her. "Taaaaaaake it."

She shook her head, but caved shortly after and snatched the jacket from his hand. "Fine, but I am only doing this to appease you."

He nodded. "Of course."

With some help from Cloud, Nadia pulled on the coat and her left shoe.

Tseng waited patiently then looked at Zack. "As expected, we'll be depending on you to get us through this terrain."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm a country boy. That it?"

Instead of dignifying this question with a response, Tseng continued as though Zack had never spoken. "If we continue this way, we should end up in town."

"Harley." Zack held out a hand for Nadia to take.

"Thank you, but I am comfortable with Cloud."

Zack chuckled. "Look, I'm sure you two get along fine, but that's not what I was thinking about. I meant, you're gonna get frostbitten toes if you don't get a piggyback ride or something. So, c'mon, I'm sure he doesn't wanna hafta carry you, and I'm willing and it'll be less of a strain on me."

Nadia glanced doubtfully at Cloud. It was true. She was almost taller than Cloud without heels. Then she scowled. Why was Zack so convincing? Lately he had always gotten his way with her. She didn't even reply this time. She tiptoed over to him. He bent his knees and she leapt onto his back wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "However, this is the last decision you will convince me to make."

Zack nodded. "I can handle that." He waved a hand over his head. "Alright, everyone. Follow me." He trudged forward.

Nadia sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. It wasn't actually a bad ride. His body heat kept her warm and hers did the same for him in return.

"So, what was that?" Zack inquired. "About toys?"

Cloud glanced up from his feet. He was the only person in the small squadron who could keep pace with Zack.

Momentarily, he and Nadia made eye contact. She had previously addressed this problem with Cloud so she experienced no difficulty in discussing it in his presence now. "I may as well. I kissed you. Do you not remember?"

Zack deliberated for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Do you recall what occurrences came to pass in the slums?"

Again, he nodded. "I met Aeris."

"'Met?' No, that was a portion of what happened, but I intended to speak of the event past that incident, or the series of events."

"The ribbon?"

"Partially."

"Like Tseng said, she's jealous," Cloud said suddenly. "She's mad that she kissed you and then you were flirting with her best friend even though you clearly knew Nadia liked you." He looked over at Nadia apologetically. "Sorry, but you weren't getting anywhere quickly."

Zack eyed Cloud for a few seconds then smiled. "You're doing pretty good. Tseng and the other guy are so far behind."

Cloud bobbed his head up and down. "I'm from the countryside too."

"Oh, yeah? Where?"

"Nibelheim."

Both Nadia and Zack chuckled.

"I didn't know you were a country boy," Nadia said warmly.

"Yeah . . . What about you two?"

Zack adjusted Nadia. "Well, she's from Banora and me? I'm from Gongoga!" He said his hometown's name proudly.

It was Cloud's turn to laugh, but he did so much quieter than the other two had.

"What're you laughing about?" Zack was smiling. "Do you even know Gongoga?"

"No," Cloud confessed, "but it sounds kind of hickish."

"Ditto Nibelheim."

"You know it?"

Zack shook his head. "But there's a mako reactor, right? Midgar has the most mako, but everyone else has none."

The last portion had been spoken by both Cloud and Zack. Nadia grinned. Two of her favorite people were getting along so well. It made her feel almost warm despite the cold, and her reserve toward Zack began to melt again.

"Hey, Tseng!" Zack called over his shoulder. "With me and . . ."

"Cloud."

"With me and Cloud you got nothing to worry about."

Tseng rolled his eyes. By the end of this trip, his suit would be ruined, and that was something that deeply irritated him.

Zack's pace slowed as he approached a ledge overlooking their destination. He still didn't let Nadia down. She peered over his shoulder and murmured, "That's the place, or rather, a roadblock on our way to the place." There were many guards pacing the facility and even though everyone knew that taking care of them would be no problem for Zack, it still seemed best to make a quiet entrance.

"We should wait for the others to catch up," Zack said decisively.

Once again, Cloud spoke up without warning. "What's SOLDIER like?"

Nadia stared at Zack, long and hard, curious as to what his response would be. Cloud already knew her opinion, but that hardly mattered.

"Hrm," Zack grumbled quietly. "I'm not sure if I understand. . . . I don't really know how to answer that." His eyes glowed faintly as Nadia settled her chin back down onto his shoulder and leaned her head into his neck. This didn't go unnoticed by Cloud. "Well, you'll understand once you get it in."

"Conflicting emotions," Nadia stated matter-of-factly. "All SOLDIERS have them. You will too."

"If I even get in." Cloud frowned.

"You will," Nadia assured.

"Yeah, even I got in pretty easy."

Tseng approached from behind and stared for a while at the building that laid before them. "This facility is used for doing excavation tests on mako."

"Mmkay." Zack crouched over and allowed Nadia to lower herself from his back. "I'll go check it out."

"Don't stir up too much trouble. We need to be as subtle as possible."

Nadia nodded in agreement. "And be careful!" For a moment, she hadn't been able to control the emotion in her voice. Shortly after, she covered her mouth, sheepishly. "Keep your body temperature in mind," she added quietly.

"Right. SOLDIERs aren't idiots. Keep your eyes open Cloud. I'm about to show you what we're made of." Zack bore a large grin than sprinted off down the hill.

Nadia's eyes were glued intensely to her friend as he swiftly and subtly made his way through the compound. It wasn't difficult to see her anxiety. She wasn't even attempting to hide it. The second that he disappeared from view, Nadia said, "I do not like the this vicinity . . ." beneath her breath, but still loudly enough to be heard by Tseng. "Cloud!" she barked and whipped about. "Let us go after him. If any harm were to befall him, I would . . . Well, I cannot be sure as to what I would do. I cannot imagine my life without him, and -"

"I get it." Cloud smiled. He had never before seen Nadia behave the way she did around or toward Zack. It wasn't a negative thing. She simply seemed happier when she was around Zack, even when she was agitated with one thing or another. "Is it . . ." Cloud glanced at Tseng, "okay?"

The latter heaved a shoulder than allowed it to fall. "Why not? He may, after all, need some back up."

"Thanks!" Cloud clutched Nadia's hand and began leading her down the steep hill, the path which Zack had taken. It took them a great deal longer to reach their destination than it had Zack for a few reasons. One of them was that Nadia kept tripping in her heels and another that Cloud was paralyzingly frightful of being sighted by the enemies.

"Be calm," Nadia ordered, and ran her hand down Cloud's face. The motion was less of a romantic gesture and more of a motherly one. "We will be fine."

He took solace in her words if only for a moment and proceeded into the compound, slowly and stealthily. Nadia couldn't help but feel sorry for her toes. They were red and bleeding, and ruining her beautiful shoes. They were neither new nor expensive, but they were cute and comfortable which in turn made them practical. Cloud led her into the warehouse where she removed her shoes and tossed them into a corner before proceeding over to the railing and peering into the deep, dark, seemingly endless abyss of pipes and rusting metals.

"Creepy place," commented Cloud with a shudder.

Nadia nodded. "Not at all Genesis' style, yet completely Hollander's." She scanned the room in search for a sign of Zack. Then, she saw it. One of the Genesis copies, lying face down on the cement ground, surrounded by a small puddle of blood, immediately in front of an elevator. "He must have gone that way." She held out a hand which Cloud - now the same height as Nadia - readily accepted.

Ever since Genesis' attack on Midgar, Nadia had hated elevators. If she hadn't been in an elevator, she probably wouldn't have made the mistake of kissing Zack or so she told herself.

"I wonder how sturdy this thing is," Cloud muttered absentmindedly, observing the rust coated walls.

"Oh please!" Nadia whimpered. "Let's not think on this now."

"You don't like elevators much, do you?" Cloud chuckled quietly.

"Bad memories," she sighed and stroked the wall from which little flakes of rusted metal fell. Her brow suddenly creased. "Do you hear yelling?"

Cloud leaned the side of his face against the still closed door. "Yeah, I do," he stated then stepped back. "Why aren't the doors opening? We've stopped."

Nadia tapped impatiently on the "door open" button several times and patted herself down, instinctually checking for the gun that she had forgot to bring. Silently, she cursed the absence of her weapon. "C'mon," she murmured.

Eventually, and with a frightening creak the doors slid open only for a very flustered Hollander to rush forward and straight into Cloud's chest. Nadia gave a small scream but quickly composed herself as Cloud restricted Hollander's arms and forced him back out of the elevator. Nadia too emerged out onto a large platform, lined with a guard railing and her eyes instantly fell upon the two people standing in the center of the platform, swords drawn.

Zack was the first to speak. "Cloud!" he sounded almost relieved to have back up. "Good work!"

Even as Zack had been speaking, Nadia had been moving. She sprinted forward and threw her arms around her childhood friend, the man whom Zack had been willing to face in battle, Genesis. "Genesis," Nadia sighed into her friend's jacket and breathed in his familiar scent. "What has happened to you?" She reached up and brushed a few graying strands of hair out of his face. "What has he done to you?" It was devastating for her to see someone, once so youthful, once so attractive in the condition Genesis was currently.

"This," Genesis stepped away, breaking Nadia's grip and held out both hands, "is the result of the degradation."

"I see," Nadia mumbled quietly to her feet.

"Do you?"

Her eyes flicked up to his face and noted that he kept subtly glancing in Cloud and Hollander's direction. Thus she adjusted her positioning from standing between Zack and Genesis to being between the latter and Cloud. "I believe so."

"I do not want to hurt you, Nadia. It is furthest from my desires."

"But why do you wish to do harm to Hollander?"

"Why do you wish to protect him?"

"I do not, but it is in yours and Angeal's best interest."

"She's right!" Hollander yelped. He had stopped struggling against Cloud. "Nobody knows where the Jenova cells are. Not even Hojo! You'll never find them."

"Then I shall willingly accept my fate, but I'll take the world with me!" He brandished his sword at Nadia.

She flinched and clenched her eyes shut, but refused to be moved awaiting the final death blow that Genesis was about to deliver. It was an honorable enough way to die, defending more Cloud than Hollander, and at least it would be at the hands of someone she loved and for someone she loved. She relaxed her frame, but the impact never came. What did reach her was a loud clang, the sound of two swords clashing. She opened her eyes and found Zack standing in her defense just in time for Hollander to begin struggling and liberating himself from Cloud, tossing the latter to the ground.

That was enough to steal Nadia's focus away from the more pertinent danger that laid before her. "Cloud," she yelped and rushed to his side.

Zack threw back Genesis. "Harley! Go!" he ordered.

In return she glared at him. "No! Don't you dare hurt him!" She was addressing Zack, but speaking of Genesis. "I cannot allow it. Never!" She then appealed to Genesis. "Do not do this! Come back with us. It is not too late. I miss you. I want back my friend. I want you to come with me!" Her voice softened. "Please."

"The mysterious abyss 'tis the Gift of the Goddess. In pursuit of this gift we take flight," Genesis recited in a monotone.

Nadia scowled, but nevertheless said, "Within the heart's water surface a hopeless wander will flow. Like ripples to waves come forth the dreams below. I don't want to talk to the writer of Loveless. I want to talk to you."

Before she could say anymore or hear what Genesis had to say in response, Cloud grabbed her wrist and dragged her onto the elevator. The last thing she saw as it slowly rose was two of her best friends waging war on each other.