(3,997 words) Remember that this is a double update so go back and read the previous chapter before this one! Seriously, major spoilers right at the start of this chappie if you don't.

Fun fact, the little thing in the first paragraph of this chapter (about the baby being real small) is something I got from my friend's family, well more specifically her stepmom's family but whatever. God, babies in her family are absolutely tiny, smaller than you'd think newborns could possibly be when not premature. My friend's little sister was a good deal smaller than I was when I was born, and I'm three months premature. I've yet to meet anyone as premature as me that didn't die in the first couple months. I have no idea how I'm alive either...

Review and I'll give you a puppy.

Enjoy!

36) The truth

After three days, since both Lulu and the baby were healthy enough, they were allowed to return home. They were in such a state that they may have been completely alright for them to leave in one day, but as the baby had been born very small the doctors had wanted to make sure he was in good health. Lulu had to tell them that being born so tiny was something that simply ran in the family, and she in fact had been far smaller than her son had been when she was a baby.

During these days both Lenne and Yuna had lied to Wakka and Lulu by simplifying Lenne's situation and leaving out information, as the reason for why she refused to go home. All they knew was that she'd fought with her mother; they hadn't any idea why and of course knew nothing of the baby or its father's untimely death. They'd chosen to keep their mouths shut over the issue. Though for Shuyin's death it was more denial on Lenne's part than anything else. It appeared to Yuna that she had accepted it more fully after first finding out, but now that it had had its time to sink in, denial had found a comfy place to stay in her mind.

The two had made the decision to only tell them when both mother and baby were home, even if some complication happened and both would have to stay at the hospital for a month or so. They were perfectly fine waiting. They were happy that nothing of the sort occurred and the wait was only a short three days.

On the day Lulu returned home with her newborn son, Yuna and Lenne were up in Yuna's room thinking out how to tell them about the baby, and all other important information. It'd come as a shock to them, no avoiding that. As Yuna had been friends with Lenne and Shuyin since she was young, they knew the duo very well. They'd be saddened by his passing just as much as the others. Their main problem was what to say first, how to start things off, how to word the most important bits and pieces. Lenne was admittedly growing more nervous by the minute, but with Yuna's encouragement did not give up on the idea of telling them everything. If they kept quiet it was likely she'd eventually be forced to go back home, since the owners of the house thought she'd had a normal everyday argument, nothing too serious. If she told them the truth there was no way they'd be so mean, and they would definitely help her for as long as need be.

After they'd figured out each part, they headed down stairs to the kitchen where they knew they'd find Lulu. She was having a late lunch, since she'd only just gotten the still nameless baby to have a nap. She was visibly very tired, but that was to be expected with a newborn in the house, everyone was suffering from lack of sleep, though the young occupants to a lesser degree than the baby's parents. They were lucky to have a room further away from the constantly crying fiend. It was also clear that she was having trouble carrying around the extra weight she had on her thanks to her pregnancy, but luckily that would soon reduce now that the baby was out of her.

"Hey Lulu, where's Wakka?" Yuna asked, with a light tone that hinted nothing of what they had to say.

"Outside sitting on the doorstep." Lulu replied without much thought as she looked for where the butter had been placed in the fridge.

"Brainstorming for names I take it….still?" Lenne giggled. She also muttered under her breath that she betted herself she could come up with a name faster than him, but made sure to be quiet enough Lulu did not make her out.

"I don't see why else he would be out there. It's silly I know; he's had over nine months if you think about it."

"True that." Yuna laughed before heading into the lounge room which would lead her to the front door.

"Hey where are you going? Did you want to ask me something?" Lulu called out curiously.

"No, but we want to tell you something." Lenne answered for her, and then added, "But Wakka has to hear as well."

"And what is this you have to say?" Lulu raised an eyebrow. Both girls were speaking in light tones, so she didn't suspect it to be anything serious.

"Just wait, Wakka's got to hear as well. It's much easier than saying it twice over."

After thirty seconds or so Yuna returned with Wakka in tow. She stood by a cupboard near Lenne, who herself took a step back to be closer to her. Wakka took a seat at the table, his expression curious. Lulu mimicked the movement with a similar expression firmly planted on her face.

"Ah…" Lenne mumbled; the ability to talk abandoning her the moment she tried to speak. From annoyance of not being able to do it after all that time building up her confidence and from uneasiness about what she was trying to say, her face went bright red. Pouting she pulled on Yuna's sleeves. "Yuuna." She pleaded.

With a frown Yuna replied but in a soft voice. "No, this is about you so you must say it yourself."

Lenne remained pouting, but seemed less opposed to speaking about it after hearing those words.

"Umm…well..." She stumbled about for words. "There's something I have to say…but I guess that was already obvious." She bit her lip and hummed, trying her hardest to recall the earlier wordings she had thought up.

"Come on, there's nothing wrong with telling us is there? You trust us right?" Lulu cut in to help her gather her courage back up.

Lenne nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!" She practically yelled, before going red over being so loud. "Um, didn't mean to do that."

"Come on get back on topic." Yuna whispered in her ear to get her back on track.

"Right." She outwardly sighed before her face turned dark, and with a shaky voice admitted. "The reason my mum kicked me out is because…I'm pregnant."

Lulu and Wakka's eyes both went wide, so wide it appeared if they went any more so the orbs would fall out of their sockets.

"Eh!?" Wakka exclaimed, stunned.

"How, who's the father?" Lulu questioned, just as overcome with shock as her husband.

Lenne's ability to talk disappeared again, but after a half minute of silence she got her voice back in working order. "It's not a nice story. It's alright if I say some stuff before telling you right? Since mum wouldn't believe me when I just tried to come right out with it. Of course she didn't believe the rest of the story either, but you're not her." Her eyes saddened at the mention of her mother, the fact her mother had accused her of lying and kicked her out, had hit her more heavily than she'd readily admit to.

Just as she opened her mouth to tell them the reason behind why everything had happened, Lulu cut in with, "It was Shuyin wasn't it? He's the father isn't he?"

The expression Lenne gave in response was all she needed, it was an obvious yes. The girl was aware of this, but still nodded. "I'm not sure how much you know but he started drifting away from us around the start of high school. Kinda like Gippal but their reasons were completely different, as Shuyin didn't completely abandon us to be popular like he did." She paused, she was getting to a part she really didn't want to speak about, but knew if she was going to tell them all the important parts she needed to say this first.

"Shuyin was doing bad things, I think it's his mother's fault, he needed an escape from her. He couldn't run off, she wouldn't allow that, so he turned to different ways, where he could stay where he was and not have to care. So he started doing drugs-"

Wakka's eyes widened and Lulu's mouth opened in a silent gasp. They'd known him well, and he hadn't been the type of person who'd do that type of thing, at least the Shuyin they'd known.

"-I'm not sure which ones to be perfectly honest, but I don't really care. It doesn't change the fact of what he was doing. He told me to help at some point, I had no idea what I could do for him, so the only thing I could do was watch him become someone else right before my very eyes. It hurt so much to see my best friend in such a state." She held back a tear as she said it, and forced herself to continue. "Then one day, while high out of his mind, he decided he could do whatever he wanted with me, and nothing would be wrong with that." She swallowed a lump forming in her throat and with all her strength forced out, "So he raped me."

"What?" Both Lulu and Wakka cried in unison. Their voices both overfilled with concern and sympathy for Lenne, and anger at the act.

"But he knows doesn't he? What's happened to you because of it?" Wakka questioned, Lulu must've been aiming to ask the same question, as her mouth was open, but was beaten to it.

"I can't tell him."

"Why not, surely he should-" Lulu tried to say but Lenne stopped her with.

"He's dead." Her tone was flat, emotionless.

Their faces showed their disbelief. So she repeated herself, this time her voice was overcome with sadness and anger at the truth.

"He's dead." Tears slipped down her face, she cared none to stop them. "Acacia told me, it was the same day you had the baby, but I kept quiet because I didn't want to ruin such a perfect day. And I've said nothing since then because I decided this would all be easier to say all at once. He was sick I know, but that didn't really have anything to do with anything, it just made things more difficult. He'd had a drug overdose, they'd managed to save him, but he hadn't wanted to be saved so…"

"You mean…" Lulu mumbled.

"Acacia was very vague with the details, but this is her brother we're talking about here, I can understand that very well. She said he'd stabbed a sharp object into his arm, when the nurses weren't looking. By the time they'd noticed it was too late to save him. So yes, he killed himself."

"That's terrible." Lulu said, her hand covering her mouth. The Shuyin she'd known wouldn't have even dared the idea of taking his own life; it was too much to take in. Wakka was having similar troubles.

"So," Lenne begun again, "I know he can no longer help me, and his mother's evil and his sister's too young to help me either, and my mum's being evil and refuses to give me any help since she wouldn't believe my story, but…" She took a deep breath in to calm herself. "I am going to try and get into contact with my father for help, since his only problem is mum and she's not with me anymore. But if I can't, even if I become a burden and it's troublesome, will you please look after me?"

Her answer came when without warning when Lulu launched out of her chair and pulled her into a hug. "Of course, why do you even need to ask? We've always looked after you and all of Yuna's other friends before. Just because there's a baby now doesn't mean anything will change. We'll always be there for you when you need it. You're a part of this family now, you got that?"

For the first time since she'd entered the room, Lenne let a smile grace her lips. "Thank you."

Tidus strode through the halls of REI HQ at a leisurely pace. He'd barely slept a wink the last couple of nights, so he'd love to have some extra sleep, but he'd been called over to HQ for today. The part that annoyed him most was that he wasn't even being assigned another mission; it was only updates on the current situation. Most of said updates didn't apply to him; they just didn't want their agents to be unaware of what was going on in case of problems arising in the near future. Little was said on Mech as always despite the manpower REI put in to take them down, because as usual barely a thing was getting done. Mech was always a step ahead of them; it'd been like that for years, which was certainly more than a little suspicious.

All he had learnt today was that two drug rings had been stopped, and their members each individually punished. He didn't know why they chose to say it in such a fashion, it meant what it always had; they were killed. It was something so simple. He couldn't understand why he'd been woken up early; he'd been waiting for a weekend so he could have a sleep in without a single problem. He knew he wasn't going to get a mission for a while; he wasn't needed at the moment.

He drifted about the corridors for a small while, trying to get himself completely awake. He wasn't going to get to sleep now, it was too late in the day and once he woke up he never got back to sleep. That was something he hated very much. He spotted a tiny group of about five or six REI members deep in a conversation, something appeared to be bothering them, but he disregarded it and passed by them. Whatever it was didn't concern him.

He would have left them behind without a problem if one of the women had not come up from behind and grabbed his right arm tightly before coming to a stop so he couldn't move either. Caught completely by surprise he stumbled back a foot, he twisted his head to glare at the culprit. She was a bright eyed hazel haired woman, a young agent twenty-five at most. He didn't expect anything good to come out of her mouth, because regardless of how tiny the gap between their ages was the older agent would always count it. So he was taken by surprise more than just a little when she asked in a hushed tone,

"Hey, you believe there's a double agent too right?"

It took almost all his self-control not to make his eyes go wide. "Eh?" Was the only sound he could get out, he hadn't intended it surely, but he didn't know what to say in response. He'd been sure that only he and Paine had come to that conclusion.

"Do you believe in the possibility of a double agent?" She repeated; her tone urgent. This was not a topic she was welcome to stay on for long; you never knew who could be listening in in a place like this.

"Yeah, I've thought so for heaps long. So has Paine for that matter. I didn't think anyone else had come to that same conclusion though, they laughed at her when she first spoke of it."

The woman smiled grimly. "I'm not surprised. You are young, and the evidence was less back then than it is now I suspect. I just don't think Mech could outsmart us so, maybe for a while, but not years. And everything we try to do to them is foiled, that's how it's been lately. All is not right at REI. Do you have any thoughts of who could do such a thing to us? Betray us as they have done?"

Tidus took a minute to think, he was sure he had heard the traitor speak on his last mission. And that voice was scarily familiar. The person's reasoning's for why he could do something like betray REI made perfect sense to himself, but he had his doubts if it would to others.

"I'm not too sure on it." Which was a lie, but they didn't need to know that. "Most members I know are too delusional, so they're out, and some are too dedicated. So I can't really pick any person, at least none I can think of. But if it helps I'm sure I heard their voice last time I was on a mission. What they were saying was not only impossible for Mech or any group such as them to know of, but I know I have definitely heard that voice at HQ."

"What!?" The woman screamed, the closest people behind them also appeared similarly as shocked, though did not voice said shock. "Really, is it a man or woman? Young or old do you think? Or better yet do you recognise who it belongs to?" She seemed incredibly excited at the mere mention of a lead.

Tidus frowned at her enthusiasm. There was a good chance he wouldn't be believed, but he might as well say it anyway. "Well I know how stupid it sounds, but if I remember it correctly the voice sounded a hella a lot like Jecht's."

Her eyes went wide. Then her mouth broadened into a grin. Then she burst out laughing.

"What!?" She laughed, then quietened down immediately when she realised how loud she was being and remembered that their topic was not one many a soul would be welcome to hearing. "Your father? But he's the head of REI! Why would he be against us? It just doesn't make any sense!"

It made perfect sense. But that was a belief he would keep to himself. "Hey, I didn't say it was him, I just said it sounded like him. I'm sorry if I don't know anyone else with that voice, but if it sounds like my father isn't it easier to say that it sounds like my father instead of straining my mind to think of someone with an identical voice?" An outright lie of course, but it sounded reasonable enough that he was sure to be listened to.

She hummed in thought, and then nodded in agreement. "True that. Well, it'll help us, go do whatever the hell you want, we don't need you anymore."

Glad it was over, Tidus headed down the hallway at a faster pace than before. He'd be happy to leave that group behind. He was pleased to know that he and Paine were not the only like-minded people here, but a REI agent was still a REI agent, and he didn't like any of them. That included Paine as well, but it was to a level that meant he could at least put up with her. His hatred of her had lessoned from what it had been in the past, either that or he was being less hateful.

After he had gone far enough away from the little group that he'd passed two corners, another arm latched onto his, but unlike the other did not hold tightly and let go after he had noticed. He turned around, and speak of the devil, there was Paine.

She was absentmindedly fiddling with the hem of her ebony singlet top, with a question posed on her lips.

"What?" Tidus barked at her when she did not voice her reason immediately.

"Don't have to get angry at me." She sighed. "I only wanted to ask what that was over there. Why was that woman speaking with you? I've known you for long enough to know you never speak with other members, me excluded but you don't really like speaking with me either."

"Well apparently her group suspects the chance of a double agent as we do. Took me by surprise certainly."

"Huh." Paine didn't look overly shocked. "About time. So what else was that all about?"

"Asked me if I knew anything. I'm pretty sure I heard the bugger last time I was on a mission."

"And you know exactly who he sounds like don't you?" She smirked, her expression all knowing.

"Like Jecht." She smiled, showing she had been thinking the very same. "They said it must be someone that sounds like him, thinking it's gotta be impossible for him to do anything bad to them. He's REI boss after all, why would he want to?" Tidus frowned, his expression angry. "Stupid idiots."

"I think it makes sense if it was Jecht. Maybe he's bored, and wants to give us a challenge, or, he's intentionally letting us hear him so we know that there is a traitor among us so we all become overcome with suspicion."

"And let REI destroy itself from within." Tidus finished for her.

"Exactly, doing our job for us. And then all that's left is getting rid of him, that shouldn't be too much trouble. It's his own fault if he's trained his agents as well as he has."

"True, and I wouldn't mind to shoot that man in the face to be perfectly honest."

Their conversation ended there, and they continued walking on. They both had the intention to leave, but even as they had to travel in the same direction, they saw that as no reason to speak. They were near the exit when quietly Tidus asked,

"Wasn't someone following you around before? Wouldn't they have heard all of that?"

"No, I chose now specifically of all times to talk since the distance they've been walking behind me is more than usual, enough to make listening in very difficult. I don't know when I'll have the chance again, so today was a good choice."

"Man, you're being underestimated here." Tidus chuckled as they got outside and took opposite directions down the street. He knew their houses were in the same direction, so clearly she was heading somewhere else first, but he saw no need to question.

Back home Tidus entered his room and flopped down on his bed, from his position he had a clear view of the kitchen, where he could see Jecht drinking straight from the bottle. The man was probably more than a little drunk, so there was little chance he would notice his son death staring him, considering his bedroom light was off. Still surprising, he did spot his son's furious expression and barked angrily,

"What!?"

"Nothing." Tidus replied, without much emotion in his voice. Just hate your stupid guts.

Paine was walking down the street at an unhurried pace when she felt her phone vibrate in the front pocket of her jeans. Curious, she took it out and eyed the screen to see who had been calling. She scowled when she noticed five missed messages, all from Gippal.

"Jeez, give up already."

She deleted them all.

Nyan, done. Now to write DATW...well tomorrow actually 'cause it's almost midnight and I'm tired.

Hope you enjoyed,

Review and I'll give you a puppy.

Jya ne,

~Serah Villiers Valentine