The night has reached its end

We can't pretend

We must run

We must run

It's time to run

Take us away from here

Protect us from further harm

Resistance

Resistance - Muse


Warnings for this chapter - Some blood, and medical/surgical stuff.


The days grew into weeks, and the seasons changed; spring had come and gone, but then again human inhabitants of Hojo's labs would have no inkling of such a thing. The passage of time was hard to measure for those who lived underground. Night and day had no meaning here under the sickening green glow of fluorescent lights reflecting off of tanks full of Mako; though by now many years had passed since the Turks paid their surprise visit to Hojo. They'd returned to Midgar and reported to Rufus all they had seen, and while the Vice President was disturbed that Hojo was continuing to experiment on humans – it was nothing he didn't already know. Soon, Rufus's attention was turned away from the mysteries of Nibelheim, and the disappearance of Sephiroth, when Scarlet proposed the construction of a newer, more powerful Mako cannon to upgrade the one in Junon.

Life went on. Back at the Academy, Zane Ballard moved up the ranks, making it all the way to Second Class. He'd hardened his heart since Quinn's disappearance; the one time he's opened up to anyone, and the gods saw fit to take her away from him. The rumor was that Quinn had been KIA, though her body had ever been found - which was the same case with Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud.

Zane vowed that if any of those three ever crossed paths with him, he would make them pay. He would exact revenge on the ones he felt responsible for the death of the only girl he ever loved. Night after night, Zane would have the same dream over and over again. Making love to Quinn, oh so quietly in the dorm so as not to disturb anyone else, her soft cries of passion giving way to screams of terror. Zane would wake, sobbing, holding a pillow close to his body in a smothering embrace.

He'd been ordered to see Shinra's psychiatrist, who all-too-easily slapped a diagnosis of PTSD upon him, and sent Zane on his way with a bottle of anti-depressants. Once back in the privacy of his own room, Zane flushed the pills down the toilet. He'd seen what some of these medications could do, turning some of his friends and comrades into utter zombies. The pills numbed the pain, but Zane didn't want to lose the pain, the hurt. It was the only thing he had left to hold onto that reminded him of Quinn. Zane told himself that he didn't deserve any piece of mind; he'd had a bad feeling about Quinn going on that mission and blamed himself somewhat, for allowing her to go.

"Allowing" her to go, ha. That's a good one, Zane scoffed inwardly. My stubborn girl…she never would have listened to me if I tried to stop her. She probably would have hated me for trying to tell her what to do.

"Quinn…I'm so sorry," Zane whispered. He sat on the bed in his room, alone, listening to the patter of rain upon the corrugated metal roof of the barracks. Zane traced his finger in the moisture that had formed on the glass pane of his window, drawing the initials ZN + QM.

"I know you're probably in the Lifestream by now," Zane whispered. "You've probably been there for a while, for all I know. I just wish – wish I'd had a chance to say goodbye."


Hojo's specimens were lined up on opposite walls, floating in a suspension of Mako, antibiotics, and liquid nutrients; a concoction of Hojo's own invention, meant to keep his specimens alive and thriving while in a perpetual state of semi-consciousness. The scientist was bent over his desk, compiling case notes from each of his projects, when his assistant Yuan came in suddenly, her face full of worry.

"Haven't I asked you to knock before entering my study?" Hojo said crossly, not looking up. "What is it now, Yuan?"

"I'm sorry, Professor, it's just that – " Yuan stammered. Even after working with Hojo all these years, his assistant never got over her nervousness around his brusque manner. "In holding tank five, there's a problem – she's going into labor."

"She? You do have to be more specific, Yuan," Hojo snapped. "We currently have three females who are gravid. Which specimen is this?"

"Specimen Q," Yuan replied hurriedly. "Professor – she's really in a bad way. "

"We need to get her out of there," Hojo said, quickly getting up from his chair. "There may not be enough time to properly sedate her."

Yuan looked horrified at this, but followed along with Hojo as they entered the back corridor toward the secret laboratory. Half a dozen human specimens resided there, all floating in Mako tanks, and all in a suspended state of animation – lingering somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, Hojo had kept them all in stasis until he decided what to do with them. Three of the female specimens were in various stages of pregnancy, Hojo having used DNA from various SOLDIERS to inseminate them.

There were times when the unfortunate specimens would wake –briefly – with no recollection of where they were, or when they'd gotten there. Time had stood still for these human specimens of Hojo's, and Quinn was no exception. The last thing Quinn would have any clear memory of was of eating a light dinner of a sandwich, provided by Hojo, moments before introducing a sedative into her IV that would render her unconscious so that he could move her to another location - and what was to be her new home, a Mako tank, much like the cryo-tubes Sephiroth, Cloud, and Zack had discovered inside the Mt. Nibel reactor.

Four years ago. Quinn's last solid meal, as well as that of the others, was some four years prior. Since that time, all the specimens had been provided all the sustenance necessary to keep them alive via IV. Quinn and the other expectant mothers were fed an additional nutritional suspension that would keep their babies well-nourished during their pregnancies.

Hojo was angry, he was frantic. He jabbed his index finger into the button on the sealed door, the laser there reading his fingerprint to allow access. Yuan followed along behind Hojo, ready to assist. The Professor's experiments had taken a horrifying turn in the past year, in his quest to produce a new generation of Sephiroths - or, at the very least, hybrids of Sephiroth and the three females. Quinn happened to be the only one who was descended from a demi-god, and as a result- Sephiroth's DNA was incompatible with her own.

That didn't stop Hojo. He'd extracted DNA from one of his other male samples, and was surprised when Quinn's egg accepted the male cells, creating a healthy zygote that was then implanted into her uterus. She was still not full term; the pregnancy was now at thirty-six weeks, the baby developing normally. Hojo had planned to deliver the child via Caesarian section when the mother reached the forty-week point; he hadn't counted on Quinn going into premature labor.

"Yuan, what is this!" Hojo exclaimed crossly. Two of the other females were bobbing up and down in the tanks, seemingly lifeless; the fluid surrounding them not the transparent liquid with a green tint of Mako, as in the other tanks. This fluid was stained red, billows of crimson clouds leeching out into the liquid, much like the churning of bloody ocean waters after a shark attacked its prey.

Yuan froze, horrified. "Professor, I don't know!" she wailed. "I was just down here and took vitals, they were fine! The alarms didn't sound - "

"Tank defect, likely," Hojo sniffed, indifferently. "Well, they're already dead, Yuan, we'll not waste our efforts there when we have a live one who's already in labor. Drain the tank and let's get her out. I'll scrub and prep for delivery by C-section. It's unfortunate that the S-cells seem to be incompatible with all human DNA."

"Yes - yes, sir," Yuan replied, pressing buttons on the console, causing the fluid to slowly drain from Quinn's tank; in her haste to free the laboring mother from her glass prison, Yuan had inadvertently flipped a switch that controlled the tanks in an adjoining room.

"Subject Q was given DNA from Subject Z, correct?" Yuan looked over to Hojo for verification.

"That is correct," Hojo replied, smiling. "I had attempted to inseminate Subject Q with Sephiroth's DNA half a dozen times prior to this attempt with Subject Z's. Unfortunately we could not produce a viable embryo using Sephiroth's sperm."

Yuan felt a hollowness in the pit of her stomach as the bile rose to the back of her throat. "She's...she's had six miscarriages?"

"Yes, she has," Hojo replied, opening the back door of the tube to release Quinn, who was slumping backwards into Hojo's arms. "Be ready to catch her - oh, Yuan, don't get sentimental, please. It's not as if this woman has any idea what's happened. She wasn't very far along when the pregnancies were lost, anyhow."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Yuan whispered, half to herself, stifling a sob as she remembered her own loss; a thing she'd kept secret even from Hojo, afraid that he'd try to take her child away once it had been born. The baby had not been Hojo's, but one of the guards who had been on duty in the underground labs. Yuan's was a lonely existence, and one evening she'd found herself inviting the guard to join her for a drink upstairs in the mansion. They'd gotten carried away in one of the rarely-used bedrooms, and Yuan never saw the man again.

A month later, she knew. She was pregnant, and didn't dare tell Hojo. Yuan didn't know what to do, but before she could even make a decision, nature had done it for her. The miscarriage was quick, and painful. It was the only day Yuan had ever called in sick during her eight years of working for Shinra, Inc.

Now, Yuan felt that sense of loss swelling again, and the sensation was almost unbearable. Yuan had known, of course, that Hojo was using these young women as surrogates for his experiments, and she'd tried to detach her emotions from the situation, as Hojo had insisted she do. But this was stirring all those old emotions back to the surface, and for Yuan it was a fresh wave of hurt all over again.

She choked on a sob, and Hojo glared at her as they worked together to heft Quinn's bulky, pregnant form out of the Mako tank and onto a nearby gurney. "Are you actually crying, Yuan?" Hojo asked in his sneering, mocking tone.

"This is just such a tragedy," Yuan replied, sniffling. She felt an anger rising in her, an emotion she tried so hard to keep in check around Hojo, though it was becoming increasingly difficult for Yuan lately.

Hojo scoffed, laughing coldly. "Tragedy? Well, in the sense that my experiment failed, then yes - it is a tragedy," Hojo intoned emotionlessly. "However, you must understand, Yuan - these female specimens were on death's door when they arrived here. I gave them a second chance! It is unfortunate they were not strong enough to survive the pregnancy. Truly regrettable, that Sephiroth's DNA was incompatible. We have learned something through their deaths, Yuan. Do not lose sight of that...they did not die in vain. The gain of knowledge is not without some cost, yes?"

"I suppose..." Yuan said hesitantly. It horrified her to think that Hojo made sense to her - on one level. On one awful, detached and inhumane level. She'd jumped at the chance to work alongside of Hojo, so many years ago. Now, in this moment, Yuan was questioning everything she'd ever done, in the name of science.

"There...checking her vitals, she seems to be fine," Hojo said absently, checking Quinn's rates of pulse and respiration. "Get her ready for surgery, please, and I will scrub. Please administer general anesthesia and analgesics- and throw in a Sleepel spell as well. We wouldn't want her to wake while I'm making the incision."

"No, absolutely not...I'll get her ready, Professor," Yuan replied. She made the decision in her mind already, and Yuan wasn't sure if it was madness talking, or emotion. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

Quinn began to stir, starting to wake from her deep sleep, and Yuan quickly grabbed an additional bag of the sedative for her IV, along with a materia orb.

I am so sorry to you, Specimen Q. I will try to get you and your baby safely out of here. I realize now, I failed the other two women. I will not fail you or your child. I do not know how I will do this, but...I will try.

"From one mother to another," Yuan said softly when Hojo was out of earshot. A single tear fell upon the white blanket she placed over Quinn, trying to make her comfortable before administering the full dose of anesthesia. Even though I never got to see my little one, perhaps you will have that chance, Specimen Q. I will try.

"Are we ready, Yuan?" Hojo asked, returning in his surgical scrubs.

"Indeed we are, Professor," Yuan replied softly, pocketing the Sleepel materia. "I will scrub up and be ready to assist you in a moment."

"Very good, Yuan, very good," Hojo muttered, bent over Quinn, monitoring each contraction and timing it. "Have you cast Sleepel on the patient?"

"Of course, professor." Yuan replied quietly. "She has been fully dosed." He hadn't even noticed his assistant pocketing the materia in a clandestine fashion.


Zack heard, and then felt, a popping sensation in his ears as the tank depressurized. Then he heard the rich, deep tones of a familiar voice; one he hadn't heard in so very long.

Get up, soldier. Is this any way for a First Class to behave, sleeping on the job? Always the puppy...

"Ang-Angeal?" Zack croaked. He blinked slowly, drops of Mako-infused water gathering on the tips of his eyelashes. His empty stomach grumbled audibly; Zack fell to his knees, then leaned forward and vomited. It was all liquid, and stank of pure Mako.

"Ugh, gods," Zack muttered. "Got one hell of a Mako hangover," he said hoarsely, still feeling dazed and unsure of what had happened. He looked over and saw Cloud floating helplessly in a tank much like the one he had just vacated.

His heart dropped to his stomach as it registered in Zack's brain what must have happened. The last thing he remembered was Hojo…

"Not too hard to figure out what the bastard did to us,"Zack grunted. "Used us as test subjects. Cloud! Gods, Cloud…please be okay." Zack eyed the control panel behind Cloud's tank, eyes widening with frustration. "Shiva! Too many damned buttons…Hold on, Cloud, hold on –" Zack's eyes darted around madly, looking for a blunt object. There it was...covered with a thin layer of dust, but it was there in the corner, likely untouched at all for the past four years.

Angeal's sword - the buster sword. He entrusted it to me, and look what they did with it. Let it gather dust in the corner while Cloud and I were subjected to gods know what. Zack felt a low growl rumbling in his throat. "That's no way to treat a weapon," Zack muttered as he reached for the hilt.

Remember….use brings about rust, Zack. Zack grumbled again, but smiled as he heard the hint of dry humor in his dead mentor's voice.

"But…this – this is for a good cause, Angeal," Zack declared, bringing the sword crashing into the glass of the tank in one fell swoop. Shards scattered everywhere as the tank exploded, the glowing green of Mako flowing out onto the floor. Zack's nerves were on edge; surely the noise would be heard by whoever was keeping them held captive here? But nobody came; Zack listened carefully as Cloud slumped forward, the cadet's body flopping lifelessly into Zack's arms.

"Cloud - Cloud, I'm here," Zack murmured, kissing the cadet's forehead, damp with moisture from the mako solution. Cloud was unresponsive save for a low keening moan. Zack felt his heart shatter upon seeing the rough state Cloud was in; he was catatonic, not quite comatose, but he very close. Had he remained much longer in the Mako tank, Cloud could very well have ended up with permanent brain damage.

Mako poisoning...he's got it really bad, Zack thought. I've got to get him out of here! But how do I get out?

"Angeal! I could use a little help right about now!" Zack shouted, and then sat down against the wall with a groan, cradling Cloud's head in his lap.

"We'll get out of here, Cloud…I promise. Just got to come up with a plan."


Further down the underground complex, back in the surgical room, Hojo heard the dull thud and frowned. The walls were heavily and thickly insulated and soundproofed; had they not been so, Hojo and Yuan both would have heard the sharp sounds of glass shattering in the Mako tank room.

Still, the sound made Hojo slightly suspicious that something was amiss; now was not the time to investigate that, however. He was making the surgical incision now, carefully guiding the gleaming scalpel over the taut skin of Quinn's swollen, pregnant abdomen.

"I heard something," Hojo muttered to Yuan, head bent over his work. "See what it is, would you?" he murmured without looking up. "I'll get the baby out, but come back to help me stitch her up. You'll need to re-scrub, of course," Hojo added absently.

"Yes, Professor," Yuan replied, pulling off her bloodied surgical gloves. She dabbed at the perspiration on her forehead with a cloth, taking care not to disturb the hair cap she was wearing. "I'll be right back."

Yuan exited the surgery room, the double doors locking behind her, as she went to investigate the source of the sound. It had come from the tank room, and Yuan felt her heart do a sudden, fearful, flip – what if one of the experiments had mutated and gotten loose? It had happened once before; ever since Hojo seized upon this idea to infuse Jenova cells into the human specimens Shinra drones had collected and returned to him. That time, Hojo had been with her, and had his handgun on him. Yuan was unarmed, save for the materia orb she'd secreted in the pocket of her scrubs.

I was going to use that on Hojo, Yuan thought worriedly. But I may have to use it to defend myself, if one of the samples has escaped - She gasped as she entered the tank room, clapping a hand to her mouth as she saw not one but two of the samples – one looked dazed and weak, the other seemed utterly catatonic.

Zack lifted his head and glared as Yuan entered; moving Cloud carefully to the side, the soldier quickly stood up, grabbing the buster sword. "Don't come any closer!" he shouted at Yuan. He felt bad yelling at her, really – Zack didn't like yelling at a woman, but if she worked for Hojo, she wasn't to be trusted, and who knew what she was capable of?

"Please, don't hurt me!" Yuan cried, ashamed at how weak and frightened she must sound. "I mean you no harm!"

"No harm?"' Zack laughed. "Seems that plenty of harm has come to us here!" he shouted, gesturing toward Cloud. "You work with Hojo, don't you." It wasn't a question but more of a statement; an accusation.

"Yes," Yuan replied unhappily, hanging her head downward. "But I promise you – I will let you out. I am trying to help another sample out, but she is in labor right now. The baby is coming – "

Zack shook his head, sputtering. It was too much to digest, too confusing. "Labor? What sample? What baby? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just – please, just trust me!" Yuan pleaded. "I'll be right back, but if I help you – promise me, you'll help this woman and her baby."

"I – " Zack sighed helplessly, looking down at Cloud. He couldn't even sit upright, never mind walk, and Zack wondered just how in the hell he would handle both taking care of Cloud, and some woman who just gave birth along with her baby. "I don't know if I can help – hey!" Zack shouted, as Yuan quickly shut the door, locking it behind her. "What the hell! Oh, gods….Cloud." Zack sat back down next to Cloud, checking him quickly to make sure he was still breathing.

"Well, you're getting air, at least there's that," Zack muttered . "You're in a really bad way, Cloud. I'm so sorry – I couldn't protect you. Couldn't protect us, from this."

Yuan ran back to the surgery as quickly as her legs could carry her, breathless as she punched in the security code. Without a word to Hojo, she immediately ran to the sink to re-scrub.

The scientist looked up and scowled at her. "About time you came back," Hojo muttered. "What was it? The noise?"

"Bats," Yuan replied quickly. "Some…vampire bats must have gotten through the ventilation system once again." She was surprised and pleased at how quickly she was able to come up with a lie, and prayed that Hojo would buy it.

Hojo shrugged, waving Yuan over to the operating table. "Well, I'll have to call the exterminators back in, I suppose. Yuan, I need you here; the mother's pulse rate seems to be dropping. She needs oxygen – bag her."

"Yes," Yuan replied, grabbing the oxygen mask and placing it over Quinn's mouth. The woman's skin looked gray, and moist with perspiration. "Professor – she's going into shock – "

"Never mind that!" Hojo snapped. He grabbed a set of clamps and fastened them on the umbilical cord. "I've got the baby out – " He grunted, hefting the small bundle out of the open cavity of Quinn's uterus. The little newborn began crying almost immediately as Hojo wrapped it in a blanket.

"It's a girl, unfortunately," Hojo muttered, handing the baby over to Yuan. "Here, hold her while I cut the cord." Yuan held the little girl tightly, murmuring kindly to the baby. Her eyes filled with tears, holding the baby, wishing for a moment that she could have had the chance to bring a child into the world herself.

I will help you, little one, Yuan silently vowed. Your mother too, if I can manage it. "Professor?" Yuan blurted. "The baby's skin – it's very cold," she observed. "All her other vitals seem fine, though; body temperature is actually normal," Yuan added.

"Ah, that is the blood of Shiva running through her veins," Hojo remarked, nodding. "Very interesting phenomenon, indeed." Suddenly an alarm sounded; Quinn's pulse rate began to drop rapidly.

"Put the baby in the incubator!" Hojo shouted as he began suturing Quinn's incision. "She's bleeding out – damn it!" The scientist cursed as he saw the large pool of blood forming beneath Quinn's body. "Must have nicked an artery…such a shame," Hojo stopped his movements, and put away the sutures. "There is no more I can do for her, I'm afraid. Soon she will be one with the Lifestream."

"You're just going to let her bleed out?" Yuan argued. "What about a phoenix down?"

Hojo gave Yuan a grave look and shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late. Her heart has stopped, Yuan." He looked up at the clock on the wall and noted the time.

"Time of death….one forty-five in the afternoon – " Hojo intoned, writing some notes down in the clipboard chart that lay nearby. It was then that Yuan felt in her pocket for the orb, carefully taking it out and inserting it into a bangle on her wrist. She lifted the baby and held it tight in her left arm, and held her right arm out shakily, ready to cast the spell on Hojo.

Hojo looked up and his eyes locked with Yuan's. "What do you think you're doing? Put that sample down, Yuan. Now."

"She is not a sample!" Yuan cried. "This is just a baby, a poor, innocent baby, who doesn't deserve to be one of your experiments! Professor." The baby began wriggling and crying, and Yuan's sense of desperation got even stronger.

Hojo laughed. "Oh, and what, you believe yourself to be some great liberator, Yuan? Please," he said scornfully. He felt in his pocket for his own weapon, the handgun he always kept by his side; the very same firearm he'd used to kill Vincent Valentine so many years ago.

"I am leaving!" Yuan shouted, a green glow forming about her arm as she summoned a sleepel spell, casting it with all her might toward Hojo. "And I am never coming back!"

"What – how could she… ?" Hojo sank to the floor as the spell hit him almost instantly; Yuan ran toward the door, not looking back, holding the precious bundle tight to her chest. She did not see Hojo weakly raise his hand one last time, his thumb cocking the hammer back. Yuan did, however, hear the gunshot that rang out, echoing throughout the surgery.

She felt the bullet hit the back of her thigh just as she reached the corridor, and fell to her side, crying out in pain. "No!" Yuan screamed in pain, struggling to rise. Gritting her teeth, she staggered to her feet and limped down the hall, punching in the code to the room where Zack and Cloud had been kept.

Zack was on his feet immediately as the wounded female fell through the door, and he rushed to her side. "Oh my gods – are you okay?" Zack asked the woman, though he quickly saw that she was not. "You're bleeding," he stated needlessly. "How can I help?"

"I – " Yuan gasped, and thrust the baby at Zack. "I will not make it out of here alive," she choked a sob. "And the mother…died in surgery. Please – the baby – get her out of here. She is yours." Yuan fell back against Zack's knee as he crouched against her, cushioning her head from the hard floor.

"Mine?" Zack said, perplexed. "What do you mean, mine?"

"You – Specimen Z. Zack Fair," Yuan babbled. "Oh, gods – it hurts – " she whimpered. "The mother – Specimen Q. The girl, Quinn."

"This – this baby…" Zack whispered, moving the soft folds of the blanket away from the newborn's face. She wriggled in his arms, crying softly. Zack's mouth fell open as he looked into eyes that mirrored his own; her head was covered with soft dark downy hair, black with glints of blue and silver just as Quinn's had been.

"She has my eyes," Zack whispered, incredulous. "But how? How is this possible?"

"Hojo – did it," Yuan gasped. "Zack – I am dying – please, let me see the baby's face. One last time."

"Okay – " Zack held the baby up for her to see, and Yuan smiled.

"Such a beautiful girl. Eyes like yours – like the sky," Yuan whispered happily, her eyes sliding shut.

"I noticed," Zack murmured. He felt something catch in his throat. "Are you saying…that Hojo used my – my DNA – on Quinn, to make this baby?"

Yuan nodded weakly. "Yes," she replied. "He tried – first with Sephiroth's – but….not compatible with human…." Her voice trailed off as her fingers gripped Zack's forearm.

"Please – get her safe. Get out now. Quinn is dead. Hojo – I cast Sleepel on him, but he will wake soon. Do not worry about me," Yuan murmured.

"I have a daughter," Zack mumbled, disbelieving. He felt the weight of Yuan as she slumped against his lap, and knew then that she'd died.

"I owe you one, Miss," Zack said respectfully, standing back as the woman passed into the Lifestream. "You died saving my little girl." He hugged the baby, bewildered by everything that had just happened.

"I don't even know your name," Zack murmured. "Guess you're too new to have one yet, huh." Zack nudged Cloud, trying to rouse him, but there was still no response.

"Cloud – gods, are you ever in for a surprise when you wake up," Zack said, quietly chuckling. "Shiva, how am I going to manage two of you? And how am I going to feed you, little one?" The baby had already begun to cry from hunger, and Zack began looking around the lab for something to feed her.

Going through the supplies on the shelving, Zack finally located several cases of small bottles containing baby formula; they even had packages of little rubber nipples attached, and Zack breathed a sigh of relief. He found a dusty, discarded tote sack and began shoving supplies into it. "Diapers!" Zack shouted happily as he found several small sample packs and took those as well. "Can't say Hojo doesn't prepare for everything, I guess." Zack's stomach turned as he thought of his baby having been anywhere near that man.

"I'll protect you, and I'll protect Cloud," Zack said as he gathered the baby in his arms once again. He made a makeshift sling and fastened it around the baby, hanging it about his neck as the baby nestled against his chest. "Shh….I've got you, I've got you." Zack grunted as he pulled Cloud up, helping him to stand.

"I really hope you wake up soon, babe," Zack groaned. "Make things a lot easier." He put an arm around Cloud's shoulders, steadying him. They shuffled slowly toward the door, and Zack took a last glance back toward the dead woman on the floor.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for saving my daughter. I promise you, I'll take care of her." He thought sadly of Quinn, wanting to find her in this complex and check on her, but Zack knew he had to get the baby and Cloud to safety first. They were his priorities now; that and staying alive.

"You're going to need a name, little girl," Zack whispered to the baby as they moved slowly toward the heavy door at the end of the corridor. "Eyes as blue as the sky," Zack murmured, recalling Yuan's words.

"Sky," Zack said finally. "Sky. That's a nice name, isn't it?" Zack smiled as he flung open the heavy door, blinking from the bright sunlight. Wow. When was the last time we were outside? I have no idea how long we were stuck down there. Now I have to figure out where we are…and where to go next.

"Cloud…I don't know how, but I'm going to get us to Gongaga," Zack told the cadet, no way of knowing if Cloud could even hear him. "We'll go see my parents. Wow, now they'll be in for a surprise, hey? 'Hi mom, hi dad….this is my boyfriend, and we're getting married. Oh, also, this is my daughter.' " He laughed lightly, his heart felt happy even though he was exhausted physically. He and Cloud were alive, they were out of Hojo's clutches, and so was Sky; and that was all that mattered to Zack at the moment.


Author's note: Next to last chapter, agh! Poor Zane, still doesn't know what happened to Quinn. And Zack has reeeeeally got his hands full now, eh? Coming soon, chapter 30, then an epilogue to tie it all up.