They waited a few days to recover, practice a few things and then all met back up on the field. They were surprised to find the remnants, both with their arms crossed, waiting for them as the last of them trickled out to the group.

"We know what you're doing." The Yazoo led, stepping forward. The movement was echoed by Loz who nodded and grunted.

"And we know that you -suck- at it." The burly remnant grinned. "Mother's going to turn you all inside out."

"But we can help with that." The slender remnant unfolded his arms, pointing at Raul. "We'll teach you, and then you'll teach the others."

"And then Mother won't be able to hurt anyone, ever again!" Loz positively beamed at the baffled group of former soldiers, unfolding his arms and holding them out as if to say 'ta-da!'.

"That's... Our success and failure rate aside, what brought this on?" The clone quirked a brow, blinking rapidly as he took in the situation and considered how best to adjust his plans accordingly.

"A few days ago, we felt what you were doing." Yazoo folded his arms once more, eyes narrowing.

"We know that wasn't -Him-." The burly remnant let his hands fall to his sides, frowning as the slender remnant pursed his lips and picked up the conversation.

"And we think you're trying to hide whoever that was."

Loz rubbed his hands together. "Because they're strong, right?"

"Strong enough, to fight Mother. To fight -Him-." Yazoo partially turned, side-eyeing Raul. "You didn't want to say anything, because if -He- learned about this... Other..."

"Then he could take him out early, right? But you don't want that, because surprise makes your strike hit harder." The burly remnant punched the palm of his hand, looking serious. "Miss Tifa taught me that."

"But we think there's something you've missed. Several something's. So, in exchange for helping you, you have to share everything with us." The slender remnant turned back to face the group properly, lifting his chin. "We'll come back in an hour. Talk about it until then."

And with that, they both took their leave, heading out across the track to the other side where they could sit on the bleachers and wait.


"I don't trust them."

It wasn't the first thing said, but it might as well have been. Raul rubbed his temples as he turned the matter over in his mind. "They already know what I wanted to keep from them. They seem willing to help, as well."

"And what if they start, I dunno, setting us up to fail?" Bryce watched the two remnant s from where he stood, arms folded.

"I think they understand the skepticism, which is why they said they would teach me. This indicates they want my approval, and know that I will carefully monitor anything they might teach to prevent such a thing. They do this so that they lack the chance to set us up to fail." The clone frowned faintly, before looking to the rest of the assembled former soldiers. "They have first hand experience with this manner of thing."

"You're thinking about it. You're -really- thinking about it." Sidney gave him a baffled look, only to shake his head. "They're remnants-"

"And I'm a clone." Raul cut him off abruptly, turning and quirking a brow at the suddenly sheepish former 2nd. "They have the capacity to choose, and if this is their choice then the correct action is not to shun them, but to accept their offer."

"And if they're lying?" Bryce spoke quietly, eyes narrowing as he glanced back towards the clone, who answered him just as softly.

"Then I'll put them down myself."

The former soldiers nodded slowly, if grimly, and watched as he made his way across the track and was met half way by Loz and Yazoo.

"So." Raul sat down on the grass, gesturing for both remnants to do the same. "You said there are some things that I missed. Considering I am going into this basically blind, I look forward to learning anything and everything you are willing to teach me."

"Yeah! You're trying to practice resisting Mother, right?" Loz flopped down and stretched out his legs, beaming.

"Tell me what you have so far. Tell me what you know. I'll fill in the gaps." Yazoo settled down onto his knees before shifting to the side to put his weight on his hip, bracing himself with a hand.


"Well, you're right on a number of things, but also wrong." The slender remnant had stretched out and tucked his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky. "It's -Him- you need to worry about more than Mother. She's an instrument, now. A tool. -He- took over her will, it's not the other way around, after Sephiroth was thrown into the lifestream. He didn't dissolve, and just like he did with Kadaj he took over her body and walked the world again."

"Less two separate entities, and more that Jenova is now an extension of him then. That puts some things into perspective, but I don't believe that Jenova is out of the fight quite yet. I've met a woman with Jenova cells within her that, it was theorized, was becoming a Jenova clone. It may be why no SOLDIER's are physically female." Raul plucked another piece of grass from nearby, holding it up and studying it.

"I dunno. I don't think boobies matter to -Him-. He wore Mother, after all." The burly remnant glanced over from where he was weaving strands of grass together before reaching out to take the piece of grass from the clone and work it into his project.

Raul surrendered the grass without complaint, simply picking another as he frowned thoughtfully. "Jenova is physically mutable though. Humans tend to require extreme circumstances, and generally aren't stable when exposed to rampant change like that. They break down on a physical level, and the only exceptions are outliers. Mister Valentine, for example. All that it means, however, is that one host of Jenova's cells is restrained within a mako crystal in a singular location."

"If you can remove -Him-, then Mother's hold will weaken. But when -He- takes over, unlike Mother..." Yazoo pursed his lips, slitted pupils thinning into lines. "You're still there, in your own head. Watching, as if you're in the back seat of a car. You can't drive, but you can look out the windows."

"We heard Kadaj, through our connection, even though Brother was taken over." Loz collected the next blade of grass and turned the woven bird's nest back and forth, studying it. "He could feel it when Cloud hit him. It's why -He- didn't feel it."

"That doesn't mean -He- doesn't have the capacity to shut you out of your own body, but... -He- prefers cruelty." The slender remnant turned his face to watch his brothers, blinking at what was being made.

"Which is why he let Cloud watch, when he tried to get him to kill Aerith and when he handed over the Black Materia. That narrows down what we have to defend against, though really we should practice them all. It's a more targeted approach." The clone selected another piece of grass, turning it over in his hands and setting it aside before picking a new one.

"You don't think about moving. You just walk, or reach for something. That part of your mind? The, uh... Sleeping part that does that? That's what Mother uses. Her, you'd have to fight alone, but for -Him-? Brother and I, we use our connection. We use it to keep hold of each other, to drown him out." The burly remnant beamed at the piece of grass that had been deemed 'better' and snagged it, neatly weaving it in to the nest to shore up one side of it.

"... You flood the connection so that it's already in use, and thus cannot be utilized." Raul blinked slowly, turning the information over in his mind. "But none of them have a strong enough connection to reach out to each other. Well, maybe Sidney, he made it to 2nd class... Thank you, both of you. I can use this to increase our chances but... What about you two?"

"Don't worry about us, Brother." Yazoo propped himself up on his elbows and smiled. "You may not have known it, but we've been fending -Him- off ever since Costa del Sol. -He- keeps trying and then giving up after a while, only to try again later. I think -He- knows something is going on, and is starting to become desperate to find out."


"Connected as I am to them, I don't believe they were lying." The clone adjusted his hold on the phone as he swung his pack over his shoulder, getting the lights on the way out of his rooms and locking the door behind him.

"But that doesn't explain why you suddenly have to go on a trip."

"Miss Tifa, I am undoubtedly about to do something incredibly stupid that may yet give us an edge. Neither of the remnants were wholly aware of Lucretia, and both discounted the possibility of her becoming a Jenova clone. That cave, however, is unique in that it was meant to hide and birth Chaos. I believe that there's something to it that might hamper the ability to sense through the walls."

"But you said that the Remnant of the Past helped you there, and that you found yourself in Aerith's garden. I don't know, Raul..."

"Miss Lucretia chose that spot for a reason. I also think that the Remnant of the Past came with me, and for lack of a better term kept the window cracked for Miss Aerith. While I felt Jenova's presence from outside of the cave it was barely noticeable when compared to the deluge I waded through once within the cavern proper. Either Sephiroth knows that the mass is there and is ignoring it, or he thinks there isn't enough there to be useful." The door to the stairwell creaked open as the clone eased his way through, checked the center, and then hopped the railing to drop straight down to the basement with only the quietest cracking of the cement underneath him. "Think about it. Nowhere has Jenova ever been so thoroughly dispersed yet unable to fulfill it's purpose. It wants to leave, it doesn't want to be usurped by it's offspring and worn like a coat."

"You're giving human traits to something wholly alien, Raul. Please don't do this."

Raul paused, one hand on the door of Tseng's car.

"You said so yourself it's something incredibly stupid. I know you just want to give us the best chance of getting rid of Sephiroth, but this isn't the way to do it."

Behind him, across the parking lot an elevator door dinged open, the sound an echo to the one that came through the receiver. Turning, the clone frowned as he watched Tifa hang up and weave between the cars as she made her way over to him and smiled slightly.

"You didn't leave yet. I thought you had more of a head start and that I'd have to try and run down a car and scold you."

"I can push the car a little if you still want to." The clone rolled his shoulder, shrugging his pack partially off so that he could hold it by the straps.

"No, I can work with this." The smile that had been playing around her mouth grew slightly before turning down into a frown. "Raul-"

"We won't know if she can be an asset or not unless I go, Miss Tifa."

"You said so yourself, it was because of the Remnant of the Past that you were able to leave the cave. He protected you from her, and you've been saying that he's not in your head as often any more. If he's really so busy, wouldn't you just be keeping him from whatever he's working on? I'm sorry, but I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go and try and talk to her. What if she takes you over?" The fighter reached out, snagging one of the straps of the backpack and tugging lightly. "You keep going off and doing things alone, like you think you're expendable or something."

"There are more than a dozen people at the WRO who have a better public relation image than I do, and who also are incredible fighters in their own right. Not the least of which is yourself-"

"That doesn't mean that you can go off and take drastic risks." Tifa sighed, before letting go of the backpack and folding her arms as she shifted and leaned against the side of Tseng's car. "You're important, and you use that fact only when it suits your needs. You're always making decisions without talking to the rest of us, leaving us scrambling to keep up. You're part of the team, you know? You're one of us, so..."

"She's got a point, you know."

The clone jerked, startled and too-casually glancing over at where Genesis was stepping out from behind a pillar. The knowing smirk that was aimed at Raul spoke volumes about whether his reaction had been caught or not. "Listen to the girl, Clone-boy."

Raul cleared his throat, idly ignoring the advice for the moment. "Good to see you've returned. Any luck in Banora?"

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess. I'm going to give Reeve my report and then head out to take care of some pet projects of mine." The red-clad swordsman grimaced. "Too long have I let these things fall by the way side."

"I... See-"

"Then we should make sure you get a good meal in you before you leave again, right Raul? Come on. There's chicken and rice in the Mess, and..." Tifa interjected, cutting the clone off and snagging him by the arm to start pulling him along towards the door. Genesis fell into step behind them, smirking at how easily the fighter was able to draw the clone into her wake and the almost bubbly chatter about food prep that prompted nods and side-eyed glances from her captive.

The look he shared with Raul promised teasing in the future, and was answered with a narrowing of the eyes that promised that the clone wouldn't take it laying down.


I don't like this chapter. I don't like it because I feel like I handled Raul and Tifa's exchange poorly, but after half a dozen deletes and re-writes this is the best I've got. Thanks go out to tocasia for the review! Your words always help to motivate me! Thanks also go out to kettle and pot, who's kind words made me grin and who also favourited and followed this story! While I'm looking at it, thanks defiantly go out to RemixRinato for favouriting this story!
Sometimes, the main character does dumb things and it's up to others to stop them. Not all endeavors are meant to succeed, after all.
-KD