Ok guys. I am really sorry for missing last week and I'm really sorry to inform you that I will be going on hiatus for little while. Hopefully it won't last any later then Halloween (One of the reasons is a costume I'm making for my nephew. Even costume armor takes a lot of time to make). But I promise I'll get back to posting as soon as I am able to. I hope you enjoy this week's chapter.

DISCLAIMER

I do not own Final Fantasy

Chapter 26

"A... Alex?"

Alex looked at her old friend and nodded slightly. She hesitated, wanting to say something but unsure what to say.

"I wanted to tell you, but..." she started saying when all of the sudden, Nathan was hugging her tightly. She was surprised to say the least, but then again, she had no idea how he'd react really.

"I... I thought you were dead," Nathan whispered into her shoulder. Alex felt herself sigh.

"I thought you were dead too, up until a few days ago," she said as she hugged him back. "I... I had no idea anyone else survived," she added. There were so many things she had to tell him, and now that he was in front of her and aware of it, she found it impossible to resist.

"Uhm... excuse me?" a voice asked, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up at the man they had saved while Nathan let go of her and leaned back to look at him as well, wiping tears from his eyes and he did.

...

Alex couldn't help but rub her neck as she sat down at the small table with Nathan sitting across from her. It was awkward. They had agreed to stop somewhere for a drink and to catch up, so here they were. It was a small and quiet bar, with large windows in the front. They sat by one such window, far enough away from other guest to talk comfortably.

"So you're a Turk?" Nathan asked as he glanced around for about the tenth time. Alex wondered if he was looking for other people he once thought dead.

"So you're a SOLDIER?" she responded with a slight smile. He smiled crookedly.

"Yeah, I am."

"It suits you," Alex said as a waitress brought their drinks. Alex had gotten tea, while Nathan got coffee. She waited till the woman was back at the counter before continuing. "Outside of our world, the Turks were the first thing I was introduced to."

Nathan nodded slightly. "Makes sense. I bet you're perfect for the Turks. You fit right in?" he asked before taking a sip of coffee. Alex nodded. He didn't even know the half of it. She had performed an unofficial test for Veld before entering the Turks. She had performed better than some people already in the Turks.

"And what about you? How was getting in to SOLDIER? I'm sure it was at least somewhat easier than a normal person, huh?" Alex asked. She had done very well for the Turks thanks to her previous training. Surely Nathan had it about the same.

"Yeah, but once we joined, it became all about training and becoming better," Nathan said as he leaned back against his chair. "Me and Kunsel started competing a good bit, and I came up with a pretty good reason to get stronger," he added, looking down at his last words. Alex noted this and wondered why that reason affected him the way it did. "But there wasn't much of a point to it with Zack Fair as your friend," he added with a smile. Alex chuckled too.

"Yeah?" she asked, egging him to continue.

"Yep. He blew us out of the water. He would train nonstop to get better, and even convinced Angeal Hewley to take him on as an apprentice. We all thought that that particular bit was impossible, but he did it," Nathan said, clearly enjoying the memory of his friend. "He got to first ridiculously fast too. Kunsel says that it's all that energy."

"Yeah," Alex said with a smile. "He was rather hyper. But he was reliable too. He's saved my ass before, and my friends' as well."

"So where are you staying?" she asked quickly, wanting to know everything about her brother like friend. He smiled crookedly.

"With a friend of mine. We have an apartment out in Sector Seven. The walk to the Shinra building can be kind of long on off days, but it's pretty efficient for the most part."

Alex smiled. "I live in one of the Shinra apartments. I share it with my friend Cissnei," she said. "It's nice, living so close to the office. And the apartment is pretty cool too."

"It's a miracle that we never met before now," she said quietly. Nathan was in the middle of nodding when he suddenly stopped.

"Wait a minute," he muttered quickly, his mind obviously working fast to remember something. Alex stopped and waited, wondering if they had met before and not known it. Nathan looked at her, as if trying to confirm something.

"Were you the Turk that was being executed in Wutai a year ago?" he asked. Alex's eyes widened slightly. It was him! He was the SOLDIER who had helped the rescue? Her face seemed to answer his question. "The Turk leader, Tseng, made me promise not to look into the incident. I figured you were just a Turk who found something out about the clans and they wanted to silence you. I never thought it was because it was a rouge ninja. That it could have been you!" Alex nodded, excited in her own right at the realization when it hit her.

'He has no idea,' she thought. 'He doesn't know about the seal or the emperor's plans.' Her eyes widened slightly. What does that mean for them? Should she avoid talking about the Clans? Should she tell him?

"But hey," he said quickly, interrupting her thoughts. "How did you get away the night our village burned? You said the first thing you were introduced to was the Turks. What did you mean by that?" Her old friend leaned forward, obviously desperately wanting this information. He looked like a puppy in front of a bone. ... Kids these days.

'Surely that's safe to talk about...' she thought as she looked into her cup of tea. She smiled slowly, thinking about Veld for a moment.

"I was running through the woods. I fought several ninjas on the way out, and I was heading towards the coast. It was raining," she said as she took a slow sip of tea. Nathan looked down at the table.

"I remember the rain. We use to play in the rain," he said, still not looking at her. "That's what was going through my mind when I was running." Alex glanced up, watching Nathan and wondering if he planned on elaborating. He didn't continue, so she decided to finish her story first.

"I guess I stopped paying attention. Ninjas had stopped coming after me, so I let my guard down. I ran right into a camp site, and I almost didn't even realize it," she said, remembering the night. They had had two tents and a large canvas spanning between them. She stumbled and fell when entering the camp. She was hurt, though she couldn't remember how. And she could still smell the smoke and burning flesh, even though she was downwind of the village. She lay there, face down in the dirt, willing the smell of it to distract her as tears fell down her face.

"I fell down," she said, continuing her story in words. "When I looked up, there was a man in a black suit there. He knelt down next to me and was talking to me. But I wasn't really listening," she muttered. He had looked so much like her father. She had been so confused in those moments. Her mind was telling her that her father was dead, but her heart was yelling at her to jump up and hug the man who raised her, and who had protected and taught and loved her.

"I think what got me was when he lent me a hand to stand up. It wasn't till then that I really realized that he wasn't who I thought he was," she said. It was an odd feeling. The movement triggered some form of realization. He was in a black suit and the Shinra symbol was on the flap of the tents. He was a Turk. An enemy. Then images of her home flashed through her mind, as well as the people who destroyed it.

Who was her enemy? Where is she going to go now? Who should she depend on now? Who could she trust? Who could help her run from the ones who wanted her dead? He's a Turk. He could help her keep the seal safe. Maybe even get her across the sea to Midgar. This man could be the one to help her back on her feet after this. After all, where did she have left to go? He may not be her father... But he was offering to help her, and she had a good feeling about this man.

"Who did you think he was?" Nathan asked, confused slightly. Alex looked up sharply, her mind breaking out of the memory suddenly and bringing her back to the present.

"Oh. Well...," she started. "He looked so much like my father," she said quietly. She saw Nathan's eyes widen, and then look down.

"Oh..."

Alex paused, unsure if she should continue. Then... "He brought me to Midgar after that. He let me stay with him until I decided what I wanted to do. But I didn't really need much time," she said, lifting her voice in an attempt to remotely brighten the mood.

"Yeah?" He said, looking up at her, his eyes brighter. "I bet. That's actually a lot like my story," he added, drinking more of his coffee.

"Yes?" Alex asked, wanting her friend to elaborate. She wanted to hear his story as much as he had wanted to hear hers.

"So," he began, taking a deep breath. His eyes grew dark again, and Alex could tell the memories weren't a happy one. Then again, why would they be? "It started with me being shoved inside a cabinet by my mom. She died while keeping ninjas from finding me." He stopped and stared into his coffee. Alex noted that his hands shook slightly, and began to wonder if he had seen her die while she was protecting him, or if he had just heard her through the cabinet door. Neither were fun choices, and Alex felt her heart grow heavy.

"I waited a while before leaving the cabinet," he said, beginning his story again. "I grabbed..." he said before suddenly stopping. He glanced up at her before looking back down. "My stuff and ran," he finished. Alex's eyes narrowed. Surely he knew she could tell he was lying. Maybe he wanted her to guess?

"They set dogs on me," he muttered, breaking her out of her thoughts. "But I got through the forest. The first person I found was a guy my age. His name's Kunsel, and he told me about SOLDIER. He helped me, and through him, I decided to join SOLDIER too. We got in together, and we're still best friends," he said, ending his story with a light note just as she had.

Alex smiled. Both of their stories ended happily. "That's good to know," she said as she took a sip of tea. Nathan nodded. There was an awkward silence, and Alex wondered what to say. There were tons of things she wanted to know about him, and yet none were coming to mind in that one moment. She had no idea what she should and shouldn't tell him, and she couldn't seem to decide on what was good to talk about. She was afraid that any moment Nathan would ask about the clan or the seal or the other ninja clans and Alex wasn't sure what to say.

A part of her wanted to lie, and to tell him she had no idea about anything involving ninjas. But another part told her that he of all people deserves to know. He is after all the only other person actually involved without her bringing them in. But she didn't want him to get in trouble with the clans. Then...

"So Alex..."

The Turk looked up to see her friend looking down at the table just as she had been moments before. His eyes lifted to meet hers and Alex once again felt a small jolt at seeing her eyes looking back at her. It had been so long since she had seen eyes like that. They were an incredibly rare occurrence outside of the Ookami clan.

"Yes," she responded quietly, not breaking eye contact. Nathan's eyes dropped again slightly, before meeting hers again.

"Have you found anyone else from the Clan?" Alex's eyes widened and she had to keep herself from looking away.

"I haven't. You're the first I've seen..." she stopped herself. She had technically seen many of her clansmen when she broke the seal. But she already said... "the first I've found who survived," she amended quickly. She hoped he took that as she found a dead body or something. She wasn't sure how to explain the seal yet.

"Oh..." was her friend's quiet response.

"Alex?" a deep voice asked from behind her. Alex turned and found Tseng entering the bar.

"Oh hey Tseng," Alex said, feeling like she was caught doing something bad and not really understanding why she felt that way. Hell, it's not like she's cheating on him. She probably should have told him that she found Nathan though. Tseng didn't seem any different than when he was at work, and Alex wasn't really sure what he might be thinking.

"This is Nathan," she said, pausing after saying it and wondering if he would remember when she had told him about him. It had been a while back, and he had been pretty hurt. Tseng paused and looked at the SOLDIER in front of him. Nathan stood up and bowed his head slightly. When he looked up again, Alex could see their eyes meet. The dark ones widened slightly and Alex guessed that he remembered.

"Nathan?" he said slowly, as if confirming what she had said. "Well this is an interesting development," he added, looking at Alex. She nodded and motioned for him to sit down. Well, that definitely went smoother than she was afraid of.

"He's the one who petitioned for Zack Fair's search to be lengthened," she said as her lover sat down. She realized then that Nathan probably doesn't expect Tseng to know much about the Clans. Sadly, her commander actually knew more. She would probably have to somehow tell him not to mention the seal or WEAPON.

"Is that so?" Tseng asked, looking at Nathan. He glanced back at Alex with narrow eyes and his head moved into an almost imperceptible nod. Alex smiled slightly, looking over at Nathan.

"Tseng was working on the President not that long ago," Alex said to keep the conversation going. Nathan's eyes widened.

"I didn't know that," he said, seeming excited by the thought of it. Tseng nodded in response.

"I wish I could say I was able to be much help," the commanding Turk said quietly. Nathan looked down and nodded.

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way," he said looking back at Alex and Tseng. "But I'm sure we can get to where we need to be." The young SOLDIER looked determined as he stood up suddenly.

"I'm sorry. But I gotta go," he said. Alex looked up at him surprised. She hadn't expected him to decide to leave so suddenly. She stood up to say goodbye and was swept up into a hug again. He hugged tightly, and was hesitant to let go.

"It's amazing that you're still alive Nathan," she said as she hugged him back. She felt him chuckle against her before he moved back and looked at her. It was still so unusual to see her own eyes look back at her.

"You being alive is exactly what I needed," he said with a smile. "Ever since I came to Shinra, I've felt guilty. But this relieves it. I'm not the only Ookami ninja left in the world." And with that he turned and ran out of the bar, so obviously happy. Alex couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in her stomach.

She watched as Nathan left. Her eyes lowered and she bowed her head slightly. Things were so much more complicated than that.

"Is something wrong?" Tseng asked, his voice interrupting the thoughts in her head. She turned slowly and sat back down.

"It's just that..." she stopped. It was too complex. You don't put feelings like this into words. It isn't possible. The best way to put it simply... "He thinks I'm still a ninja..."

...

Alex sat quietly in the lobby of one of the executive floors as she waited for Tseng to get out of a meeting with the Vice President. She had never met the man before, for all she knew plenty about him. Rufus Shinra was about her age and loved the idea of using fear to control people. He wasn't technically a soldier, but he wielded a shotgun better then Misty did. But she had to trust Tseng's word on him, and that was that he was reliable. At least, more so then the current president.

"He has ambitions," Tseng had said. Alex wondered vaguely what these ambitions were as she slowly began to nod off. That's when she heard the door open. She stood up quickly as Tseng and the vice president walked in, talking quietly until they saw her.

"Ah, another Turk? I've met you before, haven't I?" Rufus asked her as they approached. The Vice President wore a white coat over several layers of black and white formal clothing, while his short blond hair was styled neatly. He stood straight though he wasn't particularly tall or broad, and he had the air of someone in control.

"No sir," she said, bowing her head slightly. "My name is Alexandria Dawn. It is a pleasure to meet you," she added as she shook his hand. He had a firm grip, though he didn't bother with that testing your strength nonsense.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied. "I still have many new faces to become acquainted with since my return from Junon. It has been a while since I've worked in Midgar. Well, Tseng," he said as he turned away from her and to her commander. "I will speak with you later about your concerns after I have considered all of the information you have provided."

Tseng nodded. "Thank you sir."

Rufus nodded as well before turning and walking down the hallway. Tseng moved to stand next to Alex though he continued to watch Rufus as he left. Alex looked up at him, trying to read his expression despite being unsuccessful. Finally, her lover sighed, though not exactly in a negative way.

"He's most definitely different from the President."

Alex looked back in the direction Rufus Shinra had disappeared as she waited for him to continue talking. When he didn't, she slowly whispered, "Will he help us?"

Tseng was silent for a moment. "He understands the importance of the workers, yet he also understands the needs of the company. He is in a unique position that is not driven by money, but rather by success. And if success can be achieved by means that do not negatively affect the employees of this company, he will see them, and will work for them."

Alex looked back at her lover and thought about this. So he'll look for the easiest route to achieve the same goal as his father, while keeping in mind factors that his father tends to ignore? "He sounds like he'll be a good President one day."

"We shall see," Tseng replied.

...

Aerith almost looked uncomfortable in the Shinra apartments, despite Alex and Cissnei's attempt to make her feel more at home. Their apartment had always been pretty simple, but it was nestled next to the tall Shinra buildings and deep in a part of town that was very different then Aerith's experiences.

The young flower girl had stopped by to deliver some of the letters she had written for Zack. The Turks had invited her inside for some tea and to chat some since they had free time and it had been a while since they had seen her. While Aerith accepted it, she seemed a little put off by the idea.

"Is something wrong?" Cissnei asked. Aerith looked up from her tea and smiled weakly.

"There's been a lot of unrest in the slums. More and more anti-Shinra posters and protesters are showing up, and it's making a lot of people upset. I've even had people..." she stuttered and looked down.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, worry in her voice. Aerith looked sad as she looked back up into her eyes.

"People have tried interfering with my flower selling. Zack... well, I was using that flower cart he built for me, and business was doing well for a little while there. But some of the anti-Shinra people found out who built it, and that I'm friends with you. They've started surrounding my cart and telling everyone that I'm spying on people or that I'm stealing from people for Shinra and all kinds of ridiculous stuff. "

"That's horrible!" Cissnei said in dismay. Alex looked at Aerith sadly, seeing that her friend was on the verge of crying. These people surely didn't realize who they were talking about.

"People don't believe them, do they," she asked quietly.

Aerith shook her head no. "Most people know me better than they do the protesters. But there's no arguing with them.

"Well, do you think there's something that we could do?" Cissnei asked. Alex shook her head though.

"If we do anything, it could make things worse. People will see the truth. Even the stupid protesters," the former ninja said quietly as she pulled Aerith into a hug.

"People are afraid, and people do stupid stuff when they're afraid, and that isn't something we can change," she said as she hugged her. "You're friends know the truth about you, and that's all that matters, right?" She asked as she pulled away and looked at her friend. Aerith smiled weakly.

"Yeah," she said. "You're right. I'm glad you guys are my friends."

"Even if we are evil Shinra scum?" Cissnei asked jokingly.

Aerith chuckled awkwardly but didn't respond. Alex looked down slowly. It sucked to admit it, but Shinra did do a lot of things that weren't exactly good. But they did just as much good too. People were afraid, and it didn't matter how often they tried to help. People would still be afraid.

So there you have it, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!