Another chapter is here!

Kazeshuriken: Perhaps down the road. But not now.

Enjoy!

Crimson shifted her body and felt a muted pain where the bullet had passed through her. It was a distraction at the very least, but she hoped that it wouldn't be a factor for too long. They couldn't linger here when there was no telling how long until Shinra managed to get Hojo back on his feet and learn where they were going ahead of time. It would be too much to hope he didn't wake up at all from what she put him through.

That being said, she had to admit that it was fortunate that Kunsel knew the owner and managed to get her inside. The Gold Saucer attracted several people, many of them wealthy. They'd have medical facilities and supplies meant to handle any sort of treatment or surgery needed in the event of an accident. Still, she was starting to wonder just how big of an information web the man had woven over the last few years.

It was then she noticed that Aerith was clenching the fabric of her dress on her lap, tension lining every muscle in her body. It seemed she wasn't taking the news of who her shooter was well. The former Turk pushed past the unpleasant feeling that came from her injury to ask, "How did you know it was him?"

Aerith forced herself to relax, moving her hands up to her stomach and taking a deep breath. "The rest of the Turks appeared after you were shot, and Red XIII apparently met him several years ago and memorized his scent. I just didn't want to believe he would be the one to do it."

"I don't see why," Crimson said. "We're enemies of the company. He's basically the troubleshooter. We made trouble, so he shot me to try and fix it. I probably won't be so lucky next time."

"It just feels like he betrayed me a second time by hurting one of my friends to get to me." The brunette rose out of her chair and leaned forward on the bed. "Doesn't it feel the same way to you? You did work with him for a long time, right?"

Crimson opened her mouth to answer, only for nothing to come out. She… she couldn't find the right words. Seeing her conflicted expression, Aerith took her seat again and crossed her legs.

"I've known him for the majority of my life," she said. "He was the man in the suit, a man who worked for the people who put my birth-mother and I through horrible tests until they eventually killed her when we escaped. But I at least felt safe around him growing up."

"You did?" Crimson asked, failing to hide the incredulous tone in her voice. "Even knowing who he worked for?"

"Not at first. When I was a child and lived with Elmyra, I hated whenever he came over to try and convince me to return. He made promises, made it sound like I would be doing the world itself a service. The way he says it, you'd believe it if you never knew what really went on inside."

Crimson silently agreed with a slight nod of her head. Being a consummate liar in their line of work was a necessity. Considering that Jenova was sitting in the very same lab that Hojo intended to use to crossbreed her with Red XIII, it was safe to say that they weren't doing anyone but themselves a service….

Yet, she knew all that and still helped them while believing that the ends justified the means. The world was better off with the power and military might Shinra provided. At least, that was how it seemed despite the fact that her job was to clean up the company's messes and do their dirty work.

"It was only after one night in particular that I started feeling differently," Aerith continued. "Mother and I went to the Wall Market to shop. It was late and crowded, and I got separated from her. Some drunkards were harassing me when Tseng suddenly popped up and scared them off."

"Of course he'd stop them from harming you," Crimson said. "You are a priority target. They'd have someone watching you nearly every time you stepped foot out in public. Even now, you're the only one of us they won't kill on sight."

"That's true," she admitted. "Even back then, I knew that on some level it was just his job. But what really got to me was what he did next. He led me back to where she was looking frantically for me, almost on the verge of tears. I rushed over and hugged her, but when I looked back he was gone. He could have taken me then, but he didn't."

"It certainly would have been the best time, from a purely professional viewpoint," Crimson noted. "She would have never been the wiser and the company could have claimed plausible deniability and pinned it on her as being neglectful."

"But he didn't do that," Aerith said. "All these years, there was really nothing stopping him from simply barging into our home and taking me by force. Mother would have fought for me to escape, just like my birth-parents did. But there was nothing stopping them from killing her just like them if she did and leaving me an orphan. Instead, he just simply kept an eye on us and occasionally asked me to return."

The more Crimson thought about it, the more she could see Aerith's point. Heidegger definitely would have done that, given his solution to dealing with a problem was usually bullets and force. Hojo would have been all-too eager to get his hands on her again after she escaped as well. By all accounts, the fact that Tseng actively dragged his feet until the bombing meant that he had been taking advantage of the President's trust in his assessment and role to put it off as long as he could.

Aerith sighed and looked towards the ceiling lights. "After that I started to see him in a sort of different light. I considered him a sort of guardian-figure, almost like the father I never knew back then. I didn't enjoy having him or the other Turks looking over my shoulders, but I didn't think they'd simply make me disappear. So when he ordered me kidnapped again after we learned about the plate…."

"You felt betrayed," Crimson finished. "After all that time, he finally gave the order for them to bring you in."

"When I woke up in Hojo's Lab, I couldn't believe he'd done it." A staggering breath left her mouth as she recalled it. "He returned me to the man directly responsible for my birth-parent's death. He took me from Elmyra with not even a word afterwards and left me there. After every good thing he'd done for me, I couldn't help but feel betrayed on a level that I hadn't been before—he took the safety I felt with him and tore it to shreds for the sake of his job."

How many hours did she spend there before Crimson and the others arrived, alone with those thoughts of being betrayed by a man she came to feel safe around? Crimson almost wanted to tell her that maybe it was his way of protecting her, and that the lab was safer than being in the slums when the plate came falling down. But she realized that was justifying the fact that he had brought her to her own personal Hell after sending the others to commit mass-murder on a grand scale.

He brought Aerith in because it was his job. He shot Crimson because it was his job. Whatever bonds they had before, all of it meant nothing before his duty now. In the end, everything he did was for the company. Even if he held some compassion, he would not waver when the order was given.

It had hurt fighting Rude and Reno, but that she could at least rationalize. It wasn't personal to them—she wanted to save lives and they were doing their jobs out of professionalism, even if that entailed mass-murder. But when she tried to do the same when it came to him being the one to come the closest to killing her, it failed.

He'd done so much for her, and then he tried to take everything away. What was the point in helping her leave her old life behind if he was just going to be the one to end it? Under that light, sitting on a bed after nearly bleeding out, she knew exactly what Aerith felt back when she was captured.

"… I did feel betrayed," Crimson hesitantly admitted. "He was aiming for my head the entire time, a guaranteed kill-shot if I hadn't been warned and turned. I saw how cold his eyes were when he pulled the trigger. I knew he would show those eyes to a target before, but never once did I think he would show them to me."

The admission only served to remind her of the near-death nightmare she had been in. It reflected her fears perfectly, the belief that she was a monster who belonged in the darkness and deserved to have Tseng putting the cold barrel of the gun against her head. It made her feel… a way she really didn't want to feel right now.

She scanned the room again, searching for anything she could use to change the topic. That way the thoughts of betrayal and the nightmare wouldn't trouble her further. She stopped when her eyes came across a new staff with a materia inside of it. "Where'd you get those?"

Aerith snapped out of her own reflection and looked over her shoulder to the Wizard Staff and Transform Materia. "Cloud found them while he was out, though he didn't mention where besides near the train tracks. He didn't want to sit still inside of the Gold Saucer while you were unconscious. Two of the others usually go with him to make sure he's safe."

"I should talk to him…" Her eyes then drifted to her Rekka, sitting off to the side. Someone must've grabbed it while she was unconscious. She had been fond of it before, seeing it as a tool she used in service to the company and man who she considered her superior. The feeling was not as pronounced given both had tried to kill her.

Cloud had picked up a new sword, trying to distance himself from Zack and find who he was. It got broken, but they could find him a new one in time. Maybe it was time she did the same if she truly wanted to distance herself from the pain of her past?

She was snapped out of her musings when Aerith reached into her pocket and pulled out her PHS. "Before you call them, I need to tell you something. Something I learned from Hojo and I need you to keep it a secret."

The words caught her mid-dial and Aerith stayed her fingers.

"It's about Jenova and why you seem able to heal Cloud when his headaches set in," Crimson continued. The thought of keeping it to herself had crossed her mind, but Aerith's mission from the start was to deal with Jenova and it would be stupid not to consult her about it. "Did the others tell you what I said about Hojo having made Sephiroth clones?"

She gave a brief, uncomfortable nod at the thought. "They did, but if he had and they were as strong as the original, I don't see why he kept it a secret or why Shinra hasn't used them to come after us."

"What I meant by that was that he implanted them with Jenova cells the same way he did Sephiroth. The survivors from Nibelheim, Zack, and Cloud—all of them have its cells inside of them. From what I learned, the other survivors had their minds overtaken by the cells while Zack was seemingly immune because of either his training or the SOLDIER enhancements."

"But Cloud wasn't… I can see how that will be a problem." Aerith mused as she looked down at her slender hands. "The reactions only happen when his memories come into conflict with Zack's or when Sephiroth showed up during our escape from Shinra. Then that means the cells have partially obscured or suppressed them, and it's because of my connection to the Planet that my healing can mitigate its influence."

"Hojo had a theory that those with the cells would be drawn to one another and influenced by them, drawn to the strongest concentration of them in the form of a reunion," Crimson added. "If that's the case, I'm working on the assumption that by destroying Jenova and killing Sephiroth we'll be able to stop their influence from corrupting him."

"Which is what the Planet wants me to do," Aerith said. "I'll see my mission through to the end, if that's what you were worried about."

"Not alone is what I'm saying," Crimson said. "After we find a way to restore his memories, I'm going to help you in getting rid of every other trace of Jenova to ensure he doesn't become a monster because of them. He's already troubled enough because of what he knows about Zack and his memories, so if he knew this…."

"It would only hurt him more and that's why you want to keep it a secret," Aerith finished for her.

Crimson nodded. "Kunsel already knows because he was with me and I've told him to keep quiet on it, though I'm hoping he'll listen this time and not go behind my back. The little thief is a tagalong and Red XIII only wants to go home, so they won't be around that long. Cloud and Lockhart want revenge against Sephiroth and his memories restored, which means they'll stay until then, but they should be allowed to walk away afterwards so they can find a life that doesn't involve fighting for their lives—not when they've already lost their home and neighbors."

"Okay, I understand that. But there's no telling how long it will take or how dangerous it will be," Aerith warned. "If you come with me, there's a chance you could very well never see the person you're doing this for again. Speaking from experience when it comes to my mother, I can tell you it isn't easy. Is that really okay with you?"

She hesitated for just a moment at the thought. Then the memories from that place within the darkness came to her mind again. There was no happy ending waiting for her.

Her voice came out sad but firm in resolve. "I joined Shinra from the orphanage of my own free will and committed acts that can't be forgiven. Being happy was never on the table for me. That's why, even if it takes me the rest of my life, if I can make up for some of the things I've done then that's fine. "

"If it's redemption for your past you're searching for, then no matter how hard you try you won't find it from others," Aerith said without malice, keeping her voice gentle as she reached down and touched her hands. "You have to learn to forgive yourself."

"Easier said than done," Crimson pointed out as she slipped her hands free of the tender grasp. "If I do forgive myself for everything I've done in the past, I'll be saying that it was okay to be a bad person. To be a monster like Hojo said and—"

"That's not what it means to forgive yourself," Aerith cut in. "You have to accept you've done bad things, but you aren't a bad person and you'll strive to do better. People like him don't feel guilt over what they do or when they hurt others, only shame when called out on their failures. You're not like him and have already proven you're a good person. It's just a matter of finding the path to believing it yourself and walking it."

"The good doesn't outweigh the bad," she said, repeating the same thing she told Hojo. "I worked for them willingly, under a belief that they were doing what was best for everyone, despite knowing at least a majority of what was happening. In the end, all the Turks do is make things more convenient for the company, not because it was actually better in the long run. I only realized that it was a tainted belief when it was thrown in my face and came down to personally having to either shatter that belief or call in Zack and Cloud's location. Since then I've been trying to do the right thing by helping Cloud, but now I have to wonder if the path I'm on won't be the same—me doing horrible things for what I believe to be the right reason."

"That's not something I can't tell you how to…"Aerith trailed off and looked down at her pocket for an elongated moment. Then she closed her eyes and nodded. "I see. If you're sure, I'll pass it along…."

Crimson was somewhat puzzled by the sudden shift in the conversation until Aerith reached into her pocket. From it she pulled out a materia and held it in front of the convalescing woman. It was a Summoning Materia.

"The Elder Justiciar that wields the power of Lightning, Ramuh," Aerith said. "He says that constantly bemoaning if you're on the right path does nothing, you have to march forward. If your resolve is strong then he'll loan you his strength in walking the path you seek. But if you waver or stray the path, if you become that which you fear so much, then he'll pass judgment on you. Will you accept it knowing that?"

Crimson stared that the red sphere, the words spoken by proxy resonating. Then she extended her hand in acceptance. The moment the materia landed in her palm she felt a small shock from it.

"And he's not the only one," Aerith continued. "Believe me when I say that I wouldn't let you lead us the majority of the time if I doubted that you were doing the right thing. None of us would. If it seems like you're going too far, we'll speak up."

"…Thank you, Aerith." Crimson gave her a fragile smile in gratitude. "I needed to talk to someone about it, but I don't think I could have with the others."

"That's what friends are for. I hope one day you'll consider them to be the same."Aerith returned the smile with one of her own while dialing on her phone once more. "Now, let's tell the others that you've woken up and plan our next move."