Welcome to the last chapter! I thank Chephren and Natzilla for the wonderful betaing again, you so rock girls :*

Enjoy!

36

Reno didn´t even listen to the tape. He had heard that conversation so often already, he knew it inside out. When he had heard it the first time, accidentally and muffled through the walls of his room, he had sneaked closer, curiosity getting the better of him, and leaned his ear against the wall. The first words had startled him so much that he was frozen to the spot; then he had quick-wittedly pulled out his cell and recorded the rest of it, while his jaw dropped lower and lower. Even though he had known and seen a lot, this was so unbelievable, so fucked-up, that Reno had dismissed it in the end as something that couldn´t be. He had told himself that he hadn´t heard the beginning of their conversation, didn´t know the context, and that maybe he had just misinterpreted it…

When he had heard of Tseng´s death, the guilt had been overwhelming. Reno´d blamed himself night after night, hour after hour for not preventing it, for having done nothing! He contemplated many times going to the police with his tape, but then he had decided not to. He didn´t trust the police and hadn´t Sephiroth said himself that his people´d take care of it? It was too dangerous, he couldn´t let the only evidence he had fall into the hands of the enemy! Who knew what they´d do to him too…

No, he had decided to stick to a simple tactic: hiding in plain sight. Getting near the enemy to be out of the line of fire. He had befriended Yazoo even though every second he spent with the murderer, he had felt like scratching his eyes out, tearing his belly open and shitting right in his damn girly face! But he hadn´t, he had kept his feelings under wraps and pretended that he was fine. He´d waited for his chance to find hard evidence, for a slip-up or something…

When he had read about Vincent in the newspaper, however, it had been enough. Sephiroth´s statement that he would do everything to insure that the man was punished for the 'outrageous' crime Valentine most likely hadn´t committed (unlike the Great General himself) had pushed Reno past his limits of the tolerable.

He had decided to finally take action and reveal the true face of the nation´s hero and his deranged son to the whole world.

Reno knew that under no circumstances would his tape be admitted as hard evidence; as a matter of fact, now technically Sephiroth could even sue him for violation of his private sphere. But it didn´t matter; the world had heard it, it was broadcasted live around the globe and there was no doubt whose voices had been heard just now. No matter how one looked at it, there was no way Sephiroth could get away with it. His plans had been spoiled and presidency had just slipped from his tight grasp. Hopefully they´d lock him and the other psycho away… At least their careers were over.

All eyes and cameras had been on him at the beginning, but then, as the tape proceeded, they had shifted towards the family of silver heads. From the witness stand, Reno had a good view on every one of them.

Vincent, the victim of it all, first looked incredulous, his face falling, and then it turned grim and really frightening.

Reeve, who sat behind him, just put a hand on his shoulder, probably to deter the man from going after Sephiroth and ripping him apart.

Highwind simply stood in front of the witness stand, mouth hanging open. He had had no idea that Reno would pull such a stunt, the redhead had texted him only an hour ago or so, telling him to call him in since he had evidence that´d exonerate Vincent.

Rufus Shinra showed a variety of expressions, his eyes growing larger and larger by the second, glistening with utter disbelief, disgust, glee and triumph. Reno wasn´t sure if he wanted to vote for that man either, it seemed the alternative to Sephiroth wasn´t that much better…

His gaze drifted over the spectators who pretty much sat there with their jaws on the floor, respectively looking from the little cellphone to the silver haired men and back.

Sephiroth´s family attorney was too shocked to react as well, otherwise he´d certainly have objected.

The judge was frozen to the spot, hammer held up as if he couldn´t decide if he wanted to stop this or hear more.

Zack looked utterly shocked, his eyes widened in disbelief. Lieutenant Cloud Strife looked pretty much the same, his mouth hanging open, gaze uncertainly shifting between Reno and his cell phone and the General.

Elena clung to Kadaj´s hand, a pained sob escaping her in the middle of it and then she let go of him and clasped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut in horror.

Loz sat there with his jaw clenched, hands balled into fists. He stared at the back of Yazoo´s head as if trying to make it explode.

Kadaj seemed utterly lost, and Reno actually felt sorry for the two brothers. They seemed like okay people, especially Kadaj, and he´d have wanted to spare them, but they needed to know the truth as well.

Yazoo simply sat there, eyes narrowed. He looked very much like he didn´t know what the appropriate reaction to this situation was, and eventually shifted his eyes towards his father, looking for instructions.

Sephiroth himself blinked, as if he was not believing what was going on here at all, and it gave Reno the greatest satisfaction he´d ever felt. He could see that the man was slowly starting to realize that it was over, that he´d just been exposed as what he was to the entire nation. And when he did so, his expression became downright homicidal.

The tape stopped and Sephiroth was up, growling, "You. Worthless. Scum." He jumped over the desk, was halfway to the witness stand, eyes mad with fury. His hands reached for Reno´s throat to strangle and choke the boy till his eyes popped out and his throat busted, but quick-wittedly, one of the guards reacted and shouted, "Watch out!", before he drew his gun and pressed it against the great General´s temple. The audience had stood up in turmoil, screaming and heatedly shouting into the room.

Reno had ducked on reflex and looked up again as a guard protectively and grimly came to his side to get him out of harm's way if necessary while pointing his gun at the stock still, frighteningly growling General as well. Without that gun, Reno would have been a bloody smear on the floor by now.

Vincent and Reeve were already on their way to the witness stand as well, trying to help to get the situation back under control.

Amidst the chaos, Yazoo suddenly stood up from his chair, hands on the table, face going alarmingly pale, and started to gasp for air, head falling back, eyes rolling wildly.

Then he just fell and started to violently twitch on the floor, white foam building on his lips.

It was enough to draw the people´s attention to him; Kadaj cried out and climbed over the barrier to get to his brother, despite Loz´harshly spoken order to stay put. One of the guards, who had also drawn his gun, pointing it at Sephiroth, hastily put it back and came running towards the spasming youth, kneeling by his side and trying to find out what was wrong with him.

"Stay here," Vincent briefly instructed Reeve, who just nodded and turned to Reno, and then the Inspector hurried towards Yazoo as well.

Before he could reach him however, the youth´s eyes snapped open. In the blink of an eye, he had snatched the gun from underneath the guards jacket and drawn his arm around Kadaj´s neck, who´d knelt by his side, screaming his name in agitation.

With a click of the safety being unlocked, the muzzle was pressed against the confused boy´s temple, and the expressionless gaze of Yazoo met with Vincent´s.

"Drop the weapons."

Kadaj´s eyes widened as he felt the cold metal against his head, and he looked up at the Inspector, silently asking for explanations of what was going on, why his brother was almost choking him.

The room had become utterly silent again; everyone frozen to the spot.

"Well, well," Vincent intoned softly, lifting his hands up slowly, to show that he meant no harm. His eyes briefly flickered to the confused youngest brother and then he harshly bellowed at the other guards "Drop your guns already!"

After a moment of hesitation, they complied, not knowing how serious they should take the teenager holding his own brother hostage.

"Ya-yazoo, what are you doing?" Kadaj sobbed, tugging at his brother´s sleeve to loosen the arm around his neck, but the grip became even stronger.

Zack, who had also come forward to help, stood there, helplessly. Elena sobbed behind her hand, eyes wide. She looked as if she had just lost her mind.

Reno watched the scene from behind the witness stand with grimly narrowed eyes darting from Yazoo to his baby brother and back to Sephiroth.

The General, now free again, slowly backed away, going back to Yazoo with cold rage still boiling in his mad gaze. "Good boy."

Yazoo just tilted his head, waiting for his father to reach him before he carefully stood up, never taking his eyes from the guards while pulling his overwhelmed little brother up with him.

"Let him go immediately, asshole!" Loz growled from behind the three silverheads, protectively standing in front of his sobbing girlfriend, eyes fierce and ablaze with outrage. "You fuckin´ son of a bitch, let go of my brother NOW!"

The cameras silently kept filming.

"Y-yazoo, you´re hurting me…" Kadaj whimpered, tears streaking down his little face.

"Shut up," was the coolly spoken reply from the General, Yazoo not even batting an eyelash at Loz´ furious insults.

"It is over…" Vincent slowly, calmly said with intensity. He was trying to avoid a blood bath here. He was not sure how far Yazoo´d really go, if he´d really harm his brother, but he assumed the worst case scenario. "You cannot get out of here. Don´t be stupid, you only make it worse." Judging from the insanity radiating from Sephiroth, the sheer rage that emitted from him in waves and the craziness in his eyes, he knew there was no talking to the man.

His maniacal gaze was still glued to the redhead, but shifted over to Vincent as the Inspector spoke, growing even more hateful.

Valentine had no idea what was going on in the man´s head right now, but he wouldn´t have wanted to know for anything.

His own eyes drifted back to Yazoo, hoping that he´d at least get through to the kid.

"You are clever, Yazoo, you surely realize that this is futile, don´t you? Put the gun away, you don´t want to hurt anyone." He paused, adding with an intense look into the boy´s eyes, "you can still get out of here. He made you do it, he put pressure on you, we all heard it, and you´re still a minor. I´m sure we can figure something out, can´t we, Judge Hollander?" His sharp gaze fell onto the bearded man, who quickly closed his mouth and hurried to nod.

"Let go of your brother, Yazoo, this is not your trial…"

He had to shoot Loz a look, warning him to stay back as the young man balled his fists and made a step forward. Shaking his head at him, he motioned for him to stay out of the way and Loz grudgingly complied even though right now, he´d have loved nothing more than beating his so called 'brother' into a bloody pulp! The traitor…

Vincent inwardly sighed with relief when Loz stepped back and concentrated on Yazoo again.

Meanwhile Sephiroth had gotten closer to the two brothers, saying gravely, "Do not listen to him. You know he lies. We can still make it. I can still show you…"

"Seph, just… stop it! You need help, don´t make it worse!" Zack had finally found his speech again. His shoulders were slumped in misery, his big eyes filled with grief and disbelief. "Look at you, that´s not you! My god, what would Angeal and Genesis say if they could see you now…"

The General gave a frighteningly hollow, barking laugh at that, making half the people in the room flinch. "They can´t… And that is the whole point of it," his voice had become grave and cold again, barely above a whisper, and it resonated with pure malice and hatred. "They died for everyone and now it is about time that everyone dies for me."

"I don´t understand…" Zack replied helplessly, shaking his head and looking utterly lost. His idol, the silver angel was standing there with broken wings and he wanted nothing more than to take them away and make him learn to fly again and be free. Free of that hatred and insanity that stained his once so pure and brave soul… he shouldn´t have left the country, he should have stayed with his friend. How could he not have seen that Sephiroth had constantly, surely wandered down the dark path to madness?! What kind of a friend was he to walk away when his beloved ones needed him most?! "I´m so sorry, Sephiroth, can´t we try to figure it out somehow?" It was a desperate, childish plea and he knew it the moment he sensed the reluctance coming from his former friend. They were too far gone.

The General didn´t even answer the question. He´d shut off. Lifting his chin, long hair cascading down his straight back, he said towards Yazoo´s direction, "Let´s go."

"Ya- Yazzy…" Kadaj pleaded, his eyes turning red, watering. He didn´t quite understand what was going on, just that it was bad and that his brother hurt him by holding him like that. "Le-let me go pl-please," he hitched. He wanted to go home now!!! No one had told him that a trial was so bad!

"You have no obligations to Sephiroth. Do not let him drag you down with him," Vincent intoned again, almost like chanting a prayer. "Let go of your brother."

For a moment it was so silent in the room, one could hear a pin drop. All eyes were fixated on the three figures in the centre of the courtroom:

Kadaj with his reddish, wet face; Sephiroth with his mad, furious gaze that was burning Vincent into a crispy, poor excuse for an Inspector; and Yazoo with his utterly blank, empty expression who stared back at Valentine with just as vacant eyes as if they were alone in the room.

And then he made a step back towards Sephiroth, pressing the nuzzle of the gun harder against Kadaj´s head.

"Good boy."

The crowd parted for them as they slowly made their way to one of the side doors. They were met with glares of quiet resentment, disgust and disappointment; hatred even.

It did not matter to either of the two.

Sephiroth was busy trying to wrap his mind around the concept that something awful had happened that had thwarted his grand plans for peace, to deal with the bottomless despair and anger that flashed through him, because he would not find relief.

Kadaj started to silently cry again, his vision blurring, as he was pushed forward. He could see the sick worry in Loz´and Zack´s faces, as well as the hard expression of the 'black man', as he had silently dubbed Vincent.

Reno was aghast, looking utterly miserable. That surely wasn´t what he had wanted. All he had tried to achieve was exposing Sephiroth and Yazoo for what they were and save innocent people, not get them into trouble and risk their lives! Reno had absolutely no doubt that Yazoo would shoot Kadaj. As far as he knew, this guy had no scruples at all.

Vincent had to order the security through a very pointed glare to stay put while the cameras silently filmed the party´s retreat.

"When we enter the hallway, I will see no guard and no living soul, or this child is dead," Sephiroth´s deep voice echoed through the full hall in a menacing tone, but it was only meant for Valentine. After a moment, the Inspector grimly nodded, seeing no other way. He took the radio from one of the helpless guards and gave his clipped instructions.

"This is Valentine. I am certain that by now you already know what is going on in here, since it is broadcasted live all over the globe. You heard the man: stay away. The kid´s security has top priority, do you hear me?" He waited a long moment packed with tension, until finally there was a crackle and a clear "Understood."

Vincent looked back towards the three silver heads, slowly shaking his head at Yazoo, telling him that there was no use in escaping.

"Try to run. It doesn´t matter. I will get you. You can´t get rid of me."

But the door only shut close behind them and then they were gone.

*

Yazoo hurried with Kadaj in his arm down the hall after his father. He was confused. Sephiroth seemed as if control had slipped from his grip. Thoroughly. There was no way they´d get away with that, their faces were known world wide. So what he should have done was hand Kadaj over and blame it all on his father. Valentine´s reasoning had sounded perfectly plausible. What Yazoo was doing right now was utterly irrational.

Sephiroth and his insanity were leading him to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb.

He kept running.

*

"Get the people out of here!" Vincent shouted, as the crowd finally came out of its state of shock and started buzzing and screaming and crying again. It seemed that with the shutting door, a spell had been broken and chaos was breaking out again, Thankful that they had something to do again, the guards retrieved their weapons from the ground and began to escort the shocked people out of the court room. Vincent quickly went to Reno, who was supported by Reeve, looking very pale and miserable.

"You did nothing wrong," he quickly told the red headed youth, taking the time to squeeze his shoulder and giving Reeve a nod, before he went over through the crowd to see how Loz and the rest of the family was doing. The young man was holding his crying girlfriend in his arms, while Zack tried to console them and Elena at the same time, looking completely helpless and smitten himself.

"Are you all right?" It was a redundant question, because apparently they were NOT okay. But Vincent had to make sure they didn´t need any immediate care.

Zack took a deep breath. He was a trained soldier after all, and no matter how deeply troubled and affected and worried he was, he had to make sure that the others got all the help they could. "I think Loz and Tifa are okay so far, we just need to get them out of here. I think Elena is having a nervous breakdown, she won´t stop sobbing and doesn´t hear me. She might need an ambulance," he shouted through all the hysterical noise around them. People were all trying to get out at once, ignoring the guards´pleads for some order and consideration.

Vincent nodded after a short look at the blond woman. She sat hunched at the very edge of the bench, rocking back and forth with glassy eyes, sobbing and gagging.

"Get her out of here through the other side door!" he instructed back over the noise, looking at Loz who gently stroked over Tifa´s back, looking helpless and incredibly furious at the same time. "And take them with you," he lowered his voice. "We don´t need another tragedy. Make sure Loz stays somewhere put. Get him into a police car if necessary."

With an unsure look at the bulky young man, Zack nodded and gathered Elena in his arm. "Let´s go," he softly said towards Loz. "We need to get your girlfriend to a safe place."

Surprisingly quickly, Loz complied, gently pushing the girl with him. Vincent was relieved that at least this matter was taken care of, when his gaze glided over the crowd and he turned back around towards Zack.

"Wait. Where´s the other blond?"

*

"We need to get to my car. It´s bullet proof."

Sephiroth was leading the way, his mind frantically occupied with sorting out this mess. So he had been set up. Fine. It didn´t matter. What mattered now was that he got out of here to another place. Somewhere safe. His house didn´t have an alarming system… A strangely amused snort escaped him. This was all so ludicrous.

His downfall. Caused by a potty mouthed punk.

His silver hair hung into his face, eyes widened and a strange smirk playing around his lips.

Just a safe place. They could restart from there. This battle might be lost, but the war wasn´t. Oh it so wasn´t. He would show them. He would make them bleed, every single one of them…

After he got out.

And he certainly would if only this damn whining stopped! Irritated, he stopped and twirled around, growling, "Shut him up, will you?!"

Yazoo simply looked down at his sobbing brother. "Be still," he instructed, but with not much success.

"Of all the possible hostages you had to take-" Sephiroth stopped his snapping. He closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly to collect his thoughts.

"Why are you doing this? Leave my brother alone!" Kadaj hitched, his small face frightened and still confused, but he felt that it wasn´t really Yazoo´s fault and that it was unfair of Sephiroth to snap at him.

The General seemed a bit taken aback for a moment, before his eyes dangerously narrowed again. He was beyond control now; he neither had control over the situation nor himself.

He felt he was being thrown back into the state that he so frantically tried to avoid and face all the time: helplessness. Loss of direction. With no greater goal to achieve, he was lost…

While Sephiroth was absorbed in the turmoil of his own misery, Kadaj took the chance to look up at Yazoo, whispering in a rushed manner, "Yazzy, we gotta run from him, he´s mad! You have the gun…" He nudged his brother in the side and threw him another pressing, pleading look.

Yazoo looked back at Sephiroth, who was still staring into thin air with a withdrawn, angry expression, hissing, "I can´t die yet!"

"… Be still." The youth mechanically repeated. "The car," he then said into Sephiroth´s direction, shifting his weight.

Kadaj observed his brother with his mouth hanging open. Then his face changed into something undefinable as it finally dawned on him…-that Yazoo didn´t care a damn about him. This was no mistake. This was no accident. Yazoo wasn´t sick. He had deliberately deceived Kadaj.

Yazoo really rather chose a deranged, sadistic, deceiving psycho freak over his own brother who loved him more than anything.

Closing his mouth, Kadaj tried to take a step back. Yazoo was still holding him.

Snapping out of it, Sephiroth knitted his brows, and said, more to himself,

"We need to get to the car."

Yazoo didn´t say anything. Just pressed his lips together. He should shoot him. He had read somewhere that big animals got shot when they were beyond recovery. Coup de grace.

Instead, his grip tightened around Kadaj´s shoulder.

*

Cloud was marching down the corridor at a fast pace. With one sleeve, he wiped over his puffy eyes, because the tears were hindering his vision. He needed to see.

He had to make things right again.

He turned around a corner and abruptly stood. There they were.

His gaze turned steely, and suddenly Cloud felt very calm.

He lifted his arm.

"It´s all your fault."

He pulled the trigger to erase the damn silver head that was the cause of their downfall.

He had sworn to always serve Sephiroth, no matter which way he had to do it.

Cloud would make it all better.

*

"DON´T!"

Yazoo looked up and then there was a very loud sound he could not identify. Something swirled before him, something black and silver.

The next moment that something heavily dropped before his feet. Sephiroth was dead before he even hit the floor.

A dull push made Yazoo look down. His gaze drifted from the white, tiled floor over to empty emerald eyes, then to the tip of his own shoes. His gun had clattered to the floor as he held his chest. His hands were so red…

His eyes darted back to the floor again as his vision shifted and went vertical.

Sephiroth became right again, because he was standing again (or was Yazoo falling?).

"Daddy, what is loneliness?" His father would laugh, crouch down and stroke over his serious face. "Well, you surely ask strange questions, buddy!" He´d look thoughtful for a moment and then start smiling (which Yazoo quickly mirrored). "Let´s see…

He could see Cloud gasp, falling to his knees. The blond stared down at Sephiroth, crying

"Sir!!! Why did you step in?!"

Then he looked up at someone small beside Yazoo (he had forgotten his name), and informed this person with a tortured sob,

"I didn´t want to shoot him. Yazoo, I only wanted to hit Yazoo!"

Then the rims of his vision darkened and Yazoo closed his eyes.

Loneliness is a green polygon floating in infinite darkness.

.end

It is done. I feel pretty exhausted, and a bit empty, since this whole story accompanied me for over two and a half years and it is strange seeing it all come to an end now... But all things must come to an end eventually, I guess. Why did I kill them? Because there really was nothing to achieve for them anymore; only death could bring relief.

sareyva: Hey there ^^ Luckily Reno got enough courage to save Vincent! He really didn´t deserve to go to prison for a crime he hasn´t comitted! However I´m afraid Reno just didn´t quite expect how things were going in the end… Hope you liked it!

Oztan: Haha, yes, sorry for the evil cliffy XD I wanted people to really look forward to the last chapter ;) In the end you could say that, yes, Sephiroth and Yazoo had each other´s back. Sephiroth tried to save Yazoo and Yazoo went with Sephiroth even though it wasn´t logical and wise to him.

Rina: Chrchr, I suspected you´d like it XD Yes, Vincent is a good man and really didn´t deserve this humiliation. Now I guess it came right back at Yazoo and Sephiroth… I suppose Yazoo and Sephiroth did pay for it in the end. Yazoo really wasn´t a good brother and I suppose he was beyond any help. In the end he might have understood however, even though it was too late.

Soyna: Thank you XD Yes, I love twists and turns and try to not be predictable in the plot, so I am very happy it worked! Hopefully you find Reno´s motives plausible!

IA1979: Haha, yes, poor Reno for getting shitty surnames, but somehow he had to get one, otherwise it´d have sounded awkward XD Did you have german at school? :D You were spot on about Sephiroth and Yazoo´s reactions! Oh, sorry about the link, I forgot that ff is being a bitch about that! It is http//:www . deviantart . etc I hope you liked the ending of the story!!

Wildfire Sniper: *hugs back* Thank you so much! And the longest review? Wow, I feel honoured!!! I hope the reactions you were waiting for didn´t disappoint XD

Valitiel: Ah, Reno taped the conversation in 'Abuse', when Sephiroth and Yazoo were talking at the dorms. And for the reasons above he didn´t come out with the truth until now. I´m glad you didn´t have to cry and Vincent didn´t have to go to jail!!!

Natzilla: Yes, poor Elena, her life might be destroyed *sigh* I bet she does feel guilty… Well, since Seph and Yaz died, there really is no more need for treatment, but I think at least they understood in the end. That is, Sephiroth overcame his selfishness by trying to save Yazoo, and Yazoo finally understood/felt emotion.

Thank you Aiko Celeste, alienvampirefreak, allicatters, anonymous339, Bishieaya, Boehmei, Brittany, Brose, Crippled Angel, cotton, dreamysherry, FlawedImagination,IA1979, Incog nito, LadySephiroth030490, leyna, Lilly Bri, LuciusM101, Nexess, oztan, Rina, Saeth Ceirwyn, sareyva, Shiva Rajah, SHM´s Lover, silenceinlight, Silver Tears 11, sir twigsalot, skippydog1, Starfire-Sangraal, Steelstar, Soyna, Valitiel, Vypper, WeaselBlossom, whitelanc3r, Wildfire Sniper, XwinterX, Xyleel, YazooValentine, YinYangWhiteTiger for reviewing, faving and subscribing!!!

And especially purefoysgirl, jsakurachan1, natzilla and chephren for their awesome betaing and their patience *huggles*

Well then, that´s mostly it folks XD There´ll be an epilogue next time and then we´re done ;) I´d love to hear your final thoughts on that story, if you don´t mind telling me! Thank you for reading!!!

~BMIK