Sdphantom10 and Yuleen75, it's so nice to see you caring about Kunsel, makes me feel all warm inside :D. You may notice this is my fastest chapter update yet, it usually takes me about four days but I just couldn't leave you guys hanging... or perhaps I should? muahahaha. Anyway, you really motivate me to write so thanks.

Well don't let me hold you in suspense any longer! Cue overused god awful poor person joke!

I am so poor my family eat cereal with a fork to save milk... and therefore I do not own any FF7 material belonging to Square Enix.

Tally-ho!

Chapter 25 Part 1- Close returns

Without enough mana or energy to recast ultima he guided the claymore overhead into a position to strike and focused what remained on the fire materia in the hilt of his sword making the blade billow into flames. Breaking into a furious sprint Kunsel charged his ending head on and the wyverns pounced to meet him for his final but all together futile fight.

Striking at the nearest Wyvern to him, Kunsel drove the sword with full force into the creatures chest as it lunged for him, the raw heat of the blade blistering enough to cauterize through its plate. Wielding such a hot blade came at an agonizing price and the SOLDIER grit his teeth to keep a hold of his last line of defense. Ripping the claymore from the creatures body he only had time for one final stab straight through the open mouth of another Wyvern that went for his neck before they were all upon him. The first bite latched onto his arm, the second his leg, the third a long laceration down the length of his back and after that there was no way of identifying where the merciless pain was coming from anymore. They tried to tear him apart and the quick violent end almost seemed appealing for a moment, but he held on, for one last effort as every muscle in his body bled to bursting point.

They bit and slashed away relentlessly until suddenly everything in his head went painfully sharp and his body slackened as fangs withdrew from his flesh and Kunsel fell face first to the floor barely on the edge of consciousness. There was an achingly high-pitched alarm ringing out and a screaming that sounded strangely beautiful. He could feel the hot blood pooling between him and the floor where he was going to bleed out and die, but why had the creatures left him be? The warm contact with the floor broke as two small arms turned him over to look up at a sky filled with blurry dots where the edges were slowly darkening.

That same delicate and hysterical voice that screamed was crying his name and with all the pain coursing through his body it was strange that he was able to feel two small tear drops splash against the back of his hand that was being clung to desperately.

It was Cissnei, clutching his palm to her chest with both her petite hands shouting in distress for help, her voice sounding like it was underwater to him. He smiled to the Turk kneeling beside him, though he wasn't entirely sure whether his face actually registered the action. She looked so afraid and shaken that it was both nice and unpleasant at the same time. Kunsel tried his arm, to reach and feel a lock of the burnt orange hair clinging damply to the side of her face, deciding that it was now his new favourite colour. The action failed entirely so he aimed to just hold some part of her, any part of her but the ability to even get his arm off the floor was totally beyond him.

She cried and yelled for help, called his name and begged him...

"Please! Please Kunsel! Stay with me!"

He tried his voice in return and surprisingly had success, though he had as much chance of springing to his feet as stringing a full sentence together so he could only manage her name.

"... Cissnei..."

She responded to his call and shifted her body over him to bring her face closer to his, wrapping her arms across his shoulders and making it much easier to look at her kind gentle eyes as they assured him everything would be alright. Lightly holding the side of his face with her hand covered in his blood, Cissnei pushed an incredibly tender kiss to his lips as if any harder and the gesture could break him.

"... Rekka... you call me Rekka when it's just me and you" she whispered gazing into his eyes.

That felt nice

That was the last thought that went through his mind before everything went black.

Chapter 25 Part 2- Close returns

Cissnei followed and kept a vigilant watch as the troops marched from Junon to fort Condor, she had received the message from Kunsel that morning about the upcoming battle and had wanted to help but couldn't swallow her stubborn pride to go back there. Shinra were deploying standard assault tactics, or at least that was what she first thought until a cargo of violently shaking steel containers followed in disguise at the rear. She had tried to call Kunsel multiple times but now it was he who wasn't answering, most likely to busy with preparations for the fight. She had two choices, run to fort Condor to help and give them useless information about a weapon Shinra were concealing that Cissnei knew nothing about, or she could find out what these things were.

Shinra's SOLDIER's set up base in the sparsely populated forest ten or so miles from fort Condor, staying hidden and believing they were giving Condor as little time as possible to prepare. Cissnei kept to the shadows, dispatching as few of the scouts patrolling the area as possible whenever she came close to being caught and hiding the bodies out of sight. Once the troops had left she was in a better position to investigate what were being held in the vast array of metal cages being guarded with a scant few troops and surrounded by teams of scientists.

"Collect every ounce of data from the beasts performances! Leave any detail out and you will have Professor Hojo to personally answer to!" a thin wiry grey haired scientist barked to the rest of his team, who's stern repugnant features could easily have made him a cousin or a brother of Hojo's. Unable to make any kind of move Cissnei continued to observe for quite some time until the need for answers started becoming urgent. She tracked the head scientist closely and after much dithering around and nastily issuing orders he moved into one of the research tents giving Cissnei her opportunity.

Ghosting in behind the scientist she caught him from behind and placed Rekka against his neck.

"Scream and I'll kill you."

The scientist tensed and his hands slowly went up and she pressed Rekka firmer against his throat when the man made to talk.

"I speak, you answer."

He nodded.

"What are in the containers?"

"Wyverns... an experiment to see if... to see if they could be harnessed on a battlefield" the scientist mumbled after nervously clearing his throat.

"How do you plan on releasing them?"

"... with the control in my left pocket"

Cissnei's other hand moved for said pocket but the scientist quickly dashed from her hold grabbing the switch in his hand.

"NO! If I don't get Hojo his data he'll kill me!" the man squeaked, backing away and facing towards her in fright.

"And I'll kill you here and now if you don't hand that to me" she threatened and meant it.

"... you... you... your just a girl... you wouldn't kill me" he stammered, finger hovering on the trigger.

Cissnei lunged for the scientist and he hit the release switch before she could stop him. The sound of metal doors snapping open, screams of scientists and the beating of wings crescendoed outside. She rounded on the scientist with pure venom in her eyes making the man shrink in terror under the barely five foot girls fury.

"How do you stop them?" she growled.

"... I... I can't tell you!"

With a swing of Rekka Cissnei slashed the scientist along one arm making him howl in pain.

"... I CAN'T TELL YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH!" he spat viciously looking just as malevolent and twisted as Hojo.

Another slash across the top of the scientists leg and he fell to the floor bellowing, clutching his bleeding limbs.

"..ok!... ok!... the switch... the switch... press the switch... the sound... the sound is designed to subdue them..."

Pressing her boot into the man's wrist holding the object she pulled the control from his hand and hit the button, nothing happened. Rekka went up and the scientist whimpered fearfully.

"... wait wait wait!... it's working!... it's emitting a high-pitched frequency!... your human ears just can't hear it!... I swear!... I swear!... you just need to be close enough for them to hear it!"

Cissnei shifted her face from side to side watching the man closely to see if he was lying, then she raised Rekka again.

"... STOP!... I TOLD YOU!... I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING!... IT'S THE TRUTH!"

"I know it is... but I told you not to press that button. You should've thought twice before you fucked with a Turk..."

The scientists eyes widened and with that she buried Rekka in the centre of his chest, wrenched the spike free and ran from the tent leaving the scientist to tumble face forward to the floor. Sprinting outside and passed the mess of severed bodies that were smeared garishly throughout the camp, Cissnei piloted the first vehicle she saw. The excavation buggy buzzed to life and she took off in the direction of fort Condor as fast as the thing would go. By the time she arrived the whole air was ablaze with the sound of fighting, the slopes were littered with bodies and a battle like none Cissnei had ever seen before was being waged. Her heart climbed into her throat, her friends were in that mess and now she cursed herself and her stupid pride for running away like she did.

Watching from a distance, Cissnei saw when a massive green explosion erupted from one side of the battle, drawing the attention of the Wyverns in the sky. Her breath hitched as they dove from the air to attack, getting caught up in reckless fear Cissnei drove the buggy into a jutting rock near the bottom of the hill and the thing flipped, throwing her across the blackened floor and winding her badly.

Scrambling to her feet gasping Cissnei ran the rest of the way up the slope towards the creatures and that was when she saw Kunsel standing alone and bleeding in the centre of the monsters surrounding him. Terrified she ran as fast as she could and when the dark crimson monstrosities attacked, tearing at his body she screamed, oh gaia she screamed, louder than she ever had before. Even louder than when she watched her father, mother and brother die at the age of six because she couldn't keep her mouth shut that her older brother was a Turk. It was one of the reasons why Veld had noticed her in the orphanage, he had kept a distanced but watchful eye over her all her childhood life in respect to both her uncle and brother who had both been Turks. It was how she had eventually become one herself.

She held the device out in front of her as she hurtled towards Kunsel being viciously mutilated, praying to any and every god who would listen for it to work. As she got close the creatures coward away and dropped their bodies low to the ground in submission. Cissnei watched as they released Kunsel who fell in a bloody mess before she could catch him, the sight of the deep gashes over his entire body had her screaming again in pure terror that he was already dead.

Flipping him over she screamed for help, never feeling more afraid and helpless in her life. Seeing him still alive after he had spoken her name she cried with relief and now she knew just how much she needed him to live and how much she needed him in her life.

"...Cissnei..."

She took his shoulder in her arms and brushed a gentle hand to his face, then she kissed him wanting so fiercely to take his pain away.

"... Rekka... you call me Rekka when it's just me and you."

His eyes closed and with the condition his body was in, with wounds so deep and broken it was almost inevitable that he was going to die but she wouldn't accept it. Realizing that no help was going to come Cissnei discarded Rekka without any care to pull him off the floor, she tried desperately to lift his weight but he was so heavy and his wounds began to pour even more profusely when she stood him up making her bawl tearfully. She draped him across her back and shoulders with his feet dragging across the ground and she could feel his blood seeping into her clothing. Adrenaline, fear and the irrefutable truth that she could not let Kunsel die pushed her beyond the limits of her strength to drag him baby steps at a time up the slope towards the fort. She took staggered step after staggered step until her lungs felt like they were about to implode in her chest, burning with exertion to get him to the one person who could possibly help.

She silently thanked whatever god had listened to her prayer with another shower of tears when she saw Aerith standing at the gate.

"Cissnei! You're back!... whats?..."

"QUICK HELP ME WITH HIM!"

"Kunsel?... oh my!"

Aerith dashed over to them and took Kunsel's other arm and together they carried him into the gateway chamber and laid him out on the first table they found.

"Oh my!..." Aerith squealed again, clamping her hands to her mouth as she took in the sight of his injuries.

"Quickly! You need to heal him!" Cissnei practically begged, tears still streaming down her face as Aerith stared over him helplessly as she began to shed her own.

"He's... he's so hurt... I don't know..."

Cissnei grabbed the flower girl by her shoulders which were now as equally covered in blood as hers while Aerith just looked Kunsel up and down at a total loss at where to begin.

"Aerith... please."

She nodded and together they gently peeled his shirt off making Cissnei bite down on her knuckles in despair at the horrific sight. Aerith produced her cure two materia and they set about trying to save Kunsel's life.

Chapter 25 Part 3- Close returns

After Shinra were defeated and what remained of their forces fled the slopes of Condor, Zack and Yuffie did not revel in any of the masses of victorious cheering or silent grieving that washed across the field. Instead they both broke into a run, knowing what had befallen Kunsel's unit and hoped for a miracle that he had not been one of the fallen.

When the Wyverns attacked Zack had tried to get away to help as quickly as possible but he had come face to face with the man leading the Shinra army after watching him tear through the right battalion. He was a first class who Zack remembered being a second back when he was with SOLDIER called Dwight. Dwight was extremely skilled and always did have potential but was often reckless and aggressive, the kind of character Sephiroth would never permit to becoming a first. It seemed like morals and honor weren't the only standard to slip in SOLDIER these days. Zack killed Dwight after an intense battle made more difficult by the fact the man was freshly enhanced. SOLDIER's were always strongest for the first few months after injections when mako was freshest in their system, but they were also a lot less focused and there in lied his downfall.

After Dwight fell to his sword Shinra soon collapsed without its leader and the battle was won. Zack took off the instant he could ahead of Yuffie with his enhanced speed, flying passed Tifa on the way up who shouted his name as he went by, but he couldn't stop. Red pulled in a long side him, bounding at the same speed as him as they made their way up the slope.

"Have you seen Kunsel!?" Zack yelled above the loud wind created by the speed they were running at.

"He's at the fort, I can smell him... there's blood Zack"

Zack picked up his speed to a point where even Red was beginning to struggle to keep pace. Bursting through the gate Zack never knew that he could ever witness anything worse than what Cloud's death had been, but he was proven sorely mistaken. Cissnei sat shuddering with her bloody hands in her face on a stone step, he had never seen the Turk cry before, she was always so tough that there were times he even believed her incapable of it. What was by far worse though was the sight of Aerith standing over Kunsel's body, hands, arms, even face covered in his blood with tears pouring from her eyes as she looked at Zack helplessly.

"... I can't save him... I can't... I can't save him..."

Aerith clung with bloodied shaking hands to the green orb of materia looking completely drained and Kunsel's body was still littered in wounds. Hearing Aerith's words Cissnei broke down further and Red moved to try and offer futile comfort. The mythril saber dropped with a clang from Zack's hand as he approached slowly, watching Kunsel fight to breathe and hearing his heartbeat thudding weakly and alarmingly slow. He grit his teeth, Zack had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't let this happen again, that he wouldn't watch another friend die... and he meant it.

"You can Aerith... you can save him."

Aerith couldn't speak as she just gasped for air between bouts of sobbing, unable to tell Zack she had nothing more to give and was not even remotely close to healing him enough to survive. Taking her red stained hands Zack repeated his words with total belief.

"You can save him", he pried the cure two materia from Aerith's hands and discarded it to the ground. "I've seen you do it, without materia."

"That was just for a migraine... not this... not this much damage" she could hardly finish of the last word, her voice fading out in grief.

"It'll work, talk to the planet, talk to your people, use your powers, anything... you have so much strength in you I just know it."

"He's right" Red urged, "you can do it."

"KUNSEL!" Tifa screamed, arriving breathlessly followed by Yuffie who shrieked in alarm and Barret who recoiled in genuine shock.

"Wyverns!... Wyverns they got Kuns...!" Jessie too arrived but fell silent at the scene, face turning completely white.

"Yo you SOLDIER punks are s'posed to heal real quick right?... he'll be ok right?... right?" Barret asked over and over, trying hard to keep any concern for a SOLDIER from showing in his voice.

"His mako won't save him... not with injuries this bad" Zack mourned.

Turning back to Aerith he surged with hope at seeing her eyes distant and glazed like it always did when she spoke with the planet.

"Then wha' we sp.."

"Shhh" Zack hushed Barret as all eyes turned to Aerith, no one caring for their own injuries.

She stared into space for a number of seconds and then her far off eyes slowly closed, cutting off two hanging tears to go racing down each cheek. Laying her hands against Kunsel's bare and hardly moving chest the curls of Aerith's hair began to lift slightly and in a way that could not be put into words she seemed to swell with energy as if she was drawing on every ounce of power from the air around her. When Aerith's hands began to glow a ripple of gasps echoed through the chamber and Cissnei climbed to her feet with a glimmer of hope in her puffy wide hazel eyes. Streams of green pulsing light identical to that of the lifestream snaked and weaved from the point where Aerith's hands shrouded in bright light touched Kunsel's broken body. The emerald tendrils identical to the color of Aerith's eyes wound their way around the injured SOLDIER's limbs and AVALANCHE watched in wonderment as Kunsel's wounds visibly knitted themselves together. When Kunsel let out a long shuddering gasp of air the entire room released their own as everyone had been holding their breath in anticipation.

Cissnei collapsed to Kunsel's side who remained unconscious with a cry of relief and Zack had to sprint to catch Aerith as she swayed dangerously on the spot. Catching her just as she was about to fall Zack lifted Aerith completely out cold into his arms and turned to Yuffie nearest the door.

"Go get Killian. We need two private rooms now."

For the first time ever the Wutai princess listened without dispute or comment and ran from the room with a nod. Carrying her towards the stairs Zack placed a kiss to Aerith's forehead in gratitude and admiration that would forever be beyond repayment.

"You did good baby" he whispered softly against her skin, "you did good."

Chapter 25 Part 4- Close returns

Over a countless blur of hours, members of AVALANCHE flitted in and out every so often into the room Kunsel laid resting in where Cissnei had not left his side once. Her eyes remained fixed on his sleeping form the entire time as if his condition could worsen the moment she looked away from him. He was still in bad shape but he was stable and he was going to live, that's all that mattered.

Hours later when he came into consciousness again it was all Cissnei could do to refrain from throwing herself on him in joy. It was still so frightening that she was becoming so emotionally attached to another person, but after coming so close to losing him she accepted it now, she was falling in love with him.

"... Rekka?" his voice faintly spoke and somehow he still managed to smile through the pain that he tried to conceal behind his expression.

"That's right, I'm here now."

She looked to his hand and contemplated whether or not she should hold it but decided on keeping her hands in her lap instead.

"... that's good..." he heaved with a peaceful smile, "but how... am I here?"

"Because your too stubborn to die."

He raised an eyebrow at her and Cissnei had to hold back from crying again as some of that glow she so dearly loved came back to his eyes. "..ok... I guess I can't really talk, I know I can be as stubborn as they come" Cissnei admitted bashfully.

"I like that" he glowed, keeping his stare fixed on her.

Even now weak and confined to a bed Kunsel could still make her feel so powerless as her hands began nervously fidgeting over one another in circles.

"... Aerith saved you."

Kunsel nodded gently with great effort and then opened his down-turned palm towards her which she took without hesitation.

"You saved me to Rekka."

It was as if her real name had become a trigger word to her pool of tears that started emptying again. It was such a relief to hear and finally accept someone using her real name again.

"I'm sorry..." he breathed watching the droplets tumble down her face, trying to squeeze her hand but only able to apply a pitiful amount of force.

"For what?" she asked, brushing at her wet cheeks and cursing herself for being so emotional.

"For finding out about your past... I wish I'd let you tell me... I used Veld to find out you were an orphan and from there I tracked your file... I shouldn't have gone behind your back... I'm sorry."

It was the longest sentence Kunsel had strung together so far but this time he was unable to slap on a happy face as he winced and hissed in probably what was agony.

"Shhhh... I'm glad you know... stop now... rest."

Kunsel's eyes flicked to the door and a hesitant look spread across his face and Cissnei knew why.

"I'm not going to leave again... I promise."

He nodded more with his eyes than his head and with that Kunsel's eyes closed again, not so much as falling asleep as losing the will to maintain consciousness.

Cissnei continued to sit with him, holding onto his hand until about twenty minutes later there was a soft tap at the door and Tifa quietly entered the room.

"How's he doing?" Tifa asked anxiously, crossing the room silently and taking a seat next to Cissnei.

"He was awake for a bit... even spoke for a while"

They both sat quietly for a second, taken in the beauty of those words.

How's Aerith?" Cissnei queried with genuine concern.

"Zack's with her, whatever it was she did it took a lot out of her, question is how are you doing?"

"Me?"

"We were all worried about you, you took off without a word... Kunsel wouldn't even tell us why."

"... I'm sorry Tifa" Cissnei winced, feeling embarrassed and ashamed at her disappearance. "I just needed some time to think about some things."

A hand with very badly bruised and swollen knuckles and a scattering of fresh cuts covered Cissnei's hand.

"You know you can talk to me about anything right?" Tifa firmed, "I want you to feel like you can."

Cissnei looked at the woman, wanting so badly to be able to just open up. She didn't want to continue being the cold distant member of the group who never confided in anyone, but she just found it so difficult to let people in. Taking a deep breath she decided to place some trust in another person for once and share what had been constantly on her mind ever since her meeting with Veld.

"I need to go to the Shinra mansion..."

"For answers on Sephiroth?"

Cissnei nodded.

"But not just that" she paused hesitantly, "I think there might be something there, something personal to me... I think my..."

The bedroom door burst open in interruption as was always the way when a person had something difficult or important to say. It was Jessie, looking wide-eyed and panicked.

"Jessie?"

"It's Rufus! He's gone!"

Chapter 25 Part 5- Close returns

Rufus sat in the middle of the blank concrete room and taking a deep breath he focused himself. His time with AVALANCHE had certainly been interesting and he had learned some valuable truths about Sephiroth, but now that time was up. Heideggar and Scarlett were hunting huge materia and his position as president was now at jeopardy, something that took priority over the little game he had intended to play.

When AVALANCHE had captured him Rufus found himself with a rare opportunity to deal with two of his biggest problems in one go. An opportunity to be there when Sephiroth and AVALANCHE tried to destroy one another, where he would watch from the side-lines as they tore one another apart. Who the victor would be he didn't know, nor did he care, but whoever it was they would be left in a position of vulnerability and he would capitalise on the opportunity.

I suppose if he was honest he would rather it be Sephiroth he had to finish off himself, as much as AVALANCHE was a pain in his ass he had to admit their intentions were admiral and in certain situations they could even be likeable. But honourable intentions had no place in this world and killing them would at the final hour be a necessity, except for the Ancient, he would keep her alive.

Rufus despised the thought but his father was right, the promised land did exist after all and he would need the girl to get to it. When the Zolom attacked he watched as his gateway to an unlimited supply of mako and power came close to being killed. There was no doubt about it, he saved Aerith for his own selfish reasons but at least now he knew how to capture her. His father had relied on the Turks to get her, he would not make the same mistake now that he knew Tseng had grown attached to the girl. He would put a stop to Heideggar and Scarlett's materia hunt, take the promised land for himself and let his two biggest enemies pick each other off, it all sounded so flawless but first he needed to get out of this prison cell.

He slipped the green orb of materia from the inner lining of his coat pocket, he had gone through great effort in keeping concealed. He had stolen it two days ago from one of AVALANCHE's packs while Zack was re-telling the events that happened at Nibelheim.

He smirked, it had caused quite a fuss and the Wutain princess had taken the brunt of the accusation to which she didn't take too kindly while he sat there like butter wouldn't melt. Rufus had to quickly grab the first materia he found and was rather disappointed when it turned out to be a quake materia but he would work with what he got.

Prepared and ready Rufus channelled the spell, making sure not to use its full power, he didn't want the whole room caving in on him. The room tremored roughly and now he just had to wait, sat cross-legged and relaxed in the middle of the room. Responding to the tremor the cell door was hastily unlocked and three armed guards rushed into the room to investigate, surrounding him with guns locked onto him.

Rufus eyed the men in amusement, noticing how the one on the right held his gun far more erratically than the others with finger squeezing the trigger close to firing point. He would be the trigger happy fool who would get him out of here.

"Something the matter?" Rufus drooled menacingly at the man, making the guard even more on edge as intended.

The second the one in the middle made to talk Rufus made his move, knowing that no matter what he going to get shot, the gamble was whether it would be anywhere vital. Moving at a speed that had taken a great deal of training to achieve Rufus grabbed the nervous twitchy guards gun by the barrel and turned it sharply on the guard in the center. As predicted the inexperienced rookie let loose and graciously dispatched his own teammate on Rufus' behalf. The guard on the left took his unavoidable shot and a bullet to the forearm that missed bone had Rufus smirk in victory. Sure it stung like a bitch but he could never let that show, after all he had the reputation of never feeling pain and never being known to cry to uphold.

Within the millisecond it took for the bullet that hit him to strike, Rufus turned on the one who fired the shot and drove two fingers into a pressure point in the man's neck who went limp as a fish. It was a little trick he had learned from the Turks that always had an intriguing elegance to it that he admired. The gun trapped under Rufus' grasp continued to rattle away loudly, not that it mattered, the sound of the raging battle outside was far louder still.

Kicking a steel capped heel into the final guards shin the man released the gun and dropped to his knee yelping, towering over the last guard Rufus snapped the man's neck in one fluid motion. Finally, taking one of the dead men's belts he wrapped it tightly around the bleeding hole in his forearm and strolled out of the cell.

His time with AVALANCHE had been eventful but now he had bigger fish to fry.