Fearless

Disclaimer: I did not receive the ownership of FFVII for Christmas. I did, however, receive a new laptop which I am typing on right now! :D

A/N: So yeah, I really did get a new laptop :) SO much joy! I really apologize for all the bold print, too...I just have some explaining and such to do. So sorry about the wait, you know how vacation goes. Travel. Family. Too much food. Cookies. (No Internet.) More cookies... I actually think I managed to gain, like, two pounds from eating crap constantly! :O I have the Diana complex, if you hadn't noticed XP runs around all the time, eats like a pig, yet is still built like a skinny tree...yep. I also noticed that I have two new reviewers to thank :) that shall come in a moment, but I have a discrepancy to address. Angel of Fate1 brought to my attention that a lot of my details are out of the canon timeline. This is very true and I'm going to go put something in the chapter one summary (it probably won't fit in the main one) that says I tweaked the timeline. So since I might have confused you, I'm going to go through and give you my summarized version:

~*~ Let's say that Sephiroth found out the truth about hiimself entirely by accident. There was no Nibelheim incident, no locking himself in the library of Shinra Manor. Maybe he got curious and spent days going through the Science Department database, and then failed to go insane. Sure, he probably went into shock for about a week and hasn't been quite the same since, but there was no killing rampage and all that. So of course, Vincent had no need to lock himself in a coffin in a basement either. Let's say that he found out the truth about the whole thing as well, but he's agreed to stay on with the Turks while he can. Cloud and Tifa obviously meet and all in my story, and that's out of canon too, but I love those two too much :) And on the subject of Tifa, of course she doesn't work at Shinra or anything-she's supposed to be organizing AVALANCHE with Barrett-but this is Crisis Core-based, so that isn't around yet. Also, I know Geostigma and Denzel don't appear until later, but I always thought of Tifa as such a mother figure that I guess Marlene and Denzel just kind of popped up and stuck around during my storyline. And everyone's ages are whack, too (I realized that the military age probably isn't 19 with this government running things, but that's okay). The degradation process of CC also makes an appearance-in this chapter, in fact. And, no, that wasn't a spoiler :P not really. You'll see later on how this affects everyone-now that I'm not gonna spoil-and it's like a semi-stressful sub-plot. So I think that's everything that I have to account for... Hope I helped :) ~*~

Now that I've sufficiently killed the whole idea of a shorter A/N...might as well go the full nine yards. I just wanted to say that the crazed humor is back! :D Things have been more dark and depressing than normal, but like I said last chapter, they're back in Midgar :) I'm also giving you a lovely little CloTi moment this chapter ^^ Which, by the way, this chapter goes right from the last one-think, like, five seconds in between. Now for the responses, to annoy you all further!

Angel of Fate1: New reviewer! So glad you've joined the ride! :D Thanks for all your really detailed plot analysis help-I probably should have mentioned the above giant paragraph earlier on, so thanks. And thanks for your compliments of Diana :) Trust me, I feel your pain with the chronic Mary-Sue-ness. I didn't know what that term meant until a couple weeks ago, at which point I a) became relieved Diana wasn't one, and b) started making a conscious effort to emphasize her imperfections. I hope it's working, because probably one of my favorite things about writing is character development, and with a story this long, it's way too much fun what you can do :) I guess she takes after me a little-it's really hard not to do that with a female OC, I guess-with the brown hair and the body type and the only-child-ness, but I really am trying to get her to be able to speak to everybody :) And yeah, I'm a tiny bit of a spelling/grammar freak (call me an English teacher, it's been done before) and it really irritates me when people make majorly obvious mistakes. I mean, occasional slips or typos due to lack of sleep or whatever are fine, but still. :DDDDD You're going to write an OC story? YAY aw I feel special for having inspired you :) Let me know when you post it, I wanna read it :D I was so nervous when I posted my first story, like...erm...almost a year ago? Dear Gaia. Hahaha wow, but really, just throw it on out there :) that's what I did. So thanks for "stumbling" over here, and thanks for the lengthy review! Enjoy the chapter. :)

Shadow of a Broken Angel: You're welcome, and thanks for the review! Enjoy.

Shadow Ware: Another new reviewer! :D Aw, well thanks for reading against your will then, I guess...? Hahaha thank you so much! OHMAHGOSH you read Tamora Pierce? ! Ah-mazing books. Easily one of my favorite series. I actually did realize that Diana bears some resemblance to Alanna, what with the twin thing, the (sometimes) purple eyes thing, sneaking into the army, et cetera, once I'd written aways in. So here is the long-awaited update...finally. Haha, but it's a good long one, so hopefull that helps. I definitely won't be dropping this one-I've got the ending in the planning process, working on the finer points. But that won't come for a little while yet! So for now, thank you and enjoy :) sugar highs are great, by the way.

LoveTheCrazy: No words need to be said XD and yes, rather creepy. Ah, well. What are ya gonna do. Hahaha I certainly wouldn't mind that either...! Lol, enjoy.

Shatter: You're wellllllcome :) Heh. I know, right? Wasn't that great? I was like, hmm, hero rescue...? I think YES! I mean, heck, she did her best-apparently she just needs Zack ^^ Hahaha. Right? He's kind of the master of potentially awkward situations. And then making them ten times weirder than they need to be and walking away totally unfazed xD Yay for Di! And happy holidays to you, too! Here, have an update. :)

Sayonara: *shudder* I know...it wasn't too fun to write. She had to break something, though-she's not completely invincible or anything like that, and I thought it kinda added to the drama. But yay fluff! :D And yeah, a pretty scary thought...*cue the ominous music* Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy!

Sarah: Rescue mission accomplished, yes :) Yeah, I was actually surprised to look at my master document and see how much of their time they spent in Kalm o.o I guess a lot went on, though, so... But yeah, same for me with the crazed roommates xD I have way too much fun writing those two. Thanks, enjoy the chapter!

BrokenLonelyAngel: Why thank you ;) And I don't even watch House or Bones! XP (I have a friend who does, and she's practically incoherent when you get her going on criminal evidence and such O.o I just pick things up from here and there.) And I was kinda feeling the need for some good creepy-dead-whatever type stuff, so there it was. Anyway! Thanks, and yes to comedic relief :3 they complete my life. Yeah, about that whole...college idea...*shifty eyes* haha, I don't want to think about the fact that I have to start looking at colleges next year. Kill me... But! Merry Christmas to you too, and here's a...holiday update? I dunno. But enjoy! :D

Shout-out to Ultimate-Freedom, who I will be seeing to blow stuff up with (CAN I GET A "HELL YEAH" FOR (presumably) LEGAL EXPLOSIVES? !) in approximately two hours and twenty minutes! She has finally begun to catch up on her reading! (I got a text from her earlier, asking "How old is Genesis? !" in response to chapter...29?...and in response I called her and screamed into the phone "HOW MUCH DID YOU READ? !") Ahem. We're entirely normal. You can trust us with these explosives tonight...

Oh yeah, and... HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! ! (from here, in approximately six hours and nineteen minutes, but that's not important.)

Chapter 37: Break All The Doors Down

"ZACHARY!" a voice bellowed, seeming to come from the walls themselves, and they both jumped.

"Wuh-oh," Zack muttered apprehensively.

"Hide!" Diana hissed, pretty sure that she recognized the enraged bellowing noises to be the voice of Zack's mentor. "I'll save you!" She flashed him a grin and shoved him in the direction of the handy all-purpose closet that she had had to cram into with her friends before. Oh, how well she remembered that night of shenanigans…

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Erm." Diana sidled up to the door, pressing one ear against it, then winced and backpedaled fast when the noise just about blew out her right eardrum.

THUD. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! I CAN HEAR YOU BREATHING!"

"'Cause that's not creepy at all," Diana muttered under her breath, peering through the crack at the edge of the door, trying to get an idea of where the big SOLDIER was standing and how likely he was to bash the door in on her.

"AND I CAN HEAR YOU MUTTERING TO YOURSELF…!"

Jeez, what'd Zack do? He's been here all night, what could have possibly… She was dimly aware of Angeal roaring some more, but her thoughts were temporarily elsewhere, as her wandering gaze had fallen on the clock on Zack's nightstand. Thirty-nine minutes and forty seconds after he was supposed to have shown up for training that morning. He knew it, too; he just stayed with me as long as he could… Her heart swelled for him, and she resolved to make him aware of her appreciation as soon as they weren't both in imminent danger.

"…THREE!"

Three what? Chocolate-covered chocobos? she got the chance to think absently before the door slammed open. Thinking back on it, she would marvel at how she managed to get herself pinned perfectly in between the door and the wall, just like in those cartoons. Maybe because it was Angeal who crushed her between the very solid wooden door and the very hard wooden wall.

She could tell he was now standing in the doorway, whipping his head back and forth, trying to locate whoever had been standing there three seconds previously.

"Very funny, now where are you?" he yelled, but the volume had subsided significantly. "Huh?" He had noticed that the door hadn't left a dramatic crack in the wall, as he had partially intended, just as an extra...enforcement. In fact, something seemed to be preventing it from doing so.

"Holy shit," Diana hacked, trying to breathe. This was not a sensation that she enjoyed, at all. Especially after the events of the night before last. The pressure stopped suddenly and she very nearly keeled over forward, coughing like a lung was coming up. Instead, she caught herself and slid halfway down the wall.

"What the—Diana?" the SOLDIER asked in disbelief.

"No, it's the pizza delivery from hell," she wheezed. "You want fries with that?"

Definitely Diana. "Are you okay? What are you doing here—?" He gave her a (very apologetic) hand up.

"I'm okay, you just nearly gave me a heart attack," she panted. "See, that's the thing, er…" She had just realized that she had to pull a story out of nowhere, when a blur came hurtling out of the closet at her.

"DI! Are you okay? ! What happened? ! It sounded like someone got thrown into a wall—" Zack skidded to a stop beside her, one arm already around her shoulders. He stopped when he saw the mildly guilty look on his mentor's face. Said mentor caught this, and suddenly recalled that he was here to beat down his Puppy's door. He put on the scary face again. Zack faltered and whimpered slightly, edging backwards into the room.

Diana quickly stepped in front of him. "Aw, Angeal, it wasn't his fault." She pouted slightly. "Zack just didn't want to wake me up. I thought it was really sweet of him to wait up for me…" She could see the First's resolve crumbling, and she turned on the puppy eyes as much as she could, having picked it up from Zack. "He was just being nice. For me."

Angeal blinked once. …Dammit. "Ten minutes." He pointedly sternly at Zack, who was cowering behind Diana, and stalked out of the room, not bothering to shut the door.

"You're incredible," Zack stated, straightening up and staring at Diana.

"Hey, you owe me one now—" She poked him in the chest, then reconsidered. "Actually…I'll need to do this a lot more often to repay you. But I guess, technically, we're even, if you count that time—"

"—Earlier this summer, when I told you to stay back and you so artfully got yourself into the middle of things anyway?" he smirked. "Yep, I remember. I guess you're right."

"Finally, then, we're even," she smiled gently. She raised her eyes and reached up to kiss him for a long moment. "That was for luck," she whispered.

He grinned cockily. "I should get into trouble more often."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "See you later."

"Bye, love you."

"Love you too."

She was strolling casually, but with a purpose, down the corridors of another building several minutes later, her backpack from the weekend slung over her shoulder. She had to see Tifa, and fast. There was one hell of a lot of explaining to do, yet again.

Her boots sounded rhythmically on the hardwood floor, making a dull thump each time her heels fell. She began singing under her breath, to a tune she had heard Tifa singing before, in time to the beat of her shoes that was somehow oddly comforting. All it was was a steady pulse, something with which to keep pace. It kept thumping on, like a pounding heartbeat, like a beating drum. Her song matched it, even when the pulse doubled in time as she trotted up two flights of stairs. She didn't lose her breath at all, and just kept walking and singing to herself-she couldn't sing for her life, but it didn't even matter-all the way to her best friend's door.

Hearing sounds from within, she listened for a second to make sure she wasn't interrupting…anything. To her surprise, music was playing, plenty loud enough for her to pick up but soft to normal ears. It was the same song she had been singing on the way; it was quiet but upbeat, and it was one of Tifa's favorites. Over the female singer's voice and guitar solo, Diana heard a peal of laughter. That was Tifa, and she was presumably with Cloud, from the tone of her voice. She could tell that they were in the next room of the apartment, around a corner judging by the echo, and wouldn't notice if the door opened. Well, she amended, Cloud might hear it, but not in this state. If she were to make a well-educated guess, she would say that he would be far too engrossed in Tifa's presence to be paying attention to anything else at all.

So she turned the worn brass knob slowly and inched the door open, gently placing her backpack down just inside after extracting an oversized sweatshirt from it. She flinched and pulled back when she saw movement, but she quickly realized that they wouldn't be noticing her poking her head in the door. However, they weren't doing what an outsider would immediately assume.

In the next room, they passed the doorway again, not looking through it to the anteroom that Diana was peering into. They were dancing.

Cloud had one hand on the small of Tifa's back, and his other was twined together with hers. Tifa's other arm was curved up and over his shoulder and she gazed up at him happily. She laughed again as they spun across the room; not moving in time with the music, but she didn't care. Cloud spun her out and back to him, and Diana saw him close his eyes for a brief moment as Tifa was braced to his chest for a second and a half. They whirled back across the floor, graceful and uncaring.

Tifa always carried a feeling of effortless grace with her, but not in the delicate connotation that the word held. She was like a lithe animal that moved in smooth, fluid motions and held an unreal quantity of strength behind each action. Now she moved like a liquid, dark ribbon in Cloud's arms, her long hair swishing behind her.

Cloud was always the quiet, slightly reserved, thoughtful one. However, no one could deny that he was absolutely magic with a sword when given the opportunity. He had learned a now natural pattern of motions that not only kept him from tripping over his own feet, but gave him an innate ease of movement that made the difference between the chocobo and the bird of prey. With Tifa, he was always gentle and oh so adoring, and when they were together like this, they blended effortlessly.

He twirled Tifa around again and spun her into an unexpected kiss that made Diana smile and duck her head, backing up and closing the door silently.

If that wasn't love, then love didn't exist.

Maybe she'd come back later. She had begun to pace off in the opposite direction, intending to just turn back into Devon for the rest of the day, when someone spoke from a side hall.

"Hey, hot stuff."

She turned only her head, honestly not surprised in the least. "Reno." She nodded to the redhead.

"Jeez, you're too hard to surprise. You're like my boss, yo!" he complained, hands stuffed in his pockets. "So. Where's Fair?"

"Why would I know?" she asked suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, for one, you're together, yo. And for another, you're coming from his room, right?"

She blinked. "How did you—no. You know what, I don't even want to know."

"Probably not, yo." He suddenly cast her a sly glance. "So Fair got lucky, eh?"

She figured out what he was saying after a second, then felt that she was really way too innately clueless at times to be legal. "Absolutely not! Just 'cause I—I spent the night there does not mean I spent the night there—!" she spluttered.

"Right, right," he snorted and waved a hand.

"No! But seriously—!"

"Yeah, I got it, yo. So, visiting Seventh Heaven again anytime soon?" He grinned cockily. "I hear it's a great place to pick up this and that."

She rolled her eyes, hands on hips. "Riiiiight. In your sick dreams."

"Well, hell, I dunno, yo. Think your boyfriend'd mind sharing?" He smirked obnoxiously.

"Oh Goddess," she muttered. "I think he just might." She gave an undignified snort at the idea. "Give me one reason I'd even think of anything involving you."

He winked cheekily. "'Cause I'm so sexy?"

"Try again," she deadpanned.

His head swiveled slowly to focus directly on her. A grin spread over his angular face, slowly and dangerously. She cocked an eyebrow, daring him to say whatever was going through his mind.

"…And I have a really big rod." He reached into his back pocket and Diana's eyes widened infinitesimally at the thought of what he was about to pull out. He whipped out one of those electric stick things that that Turks were so fond of and pointed it at her face. She stared at it, then her eyes slid back to him. He appeared to be on the edge of a mad snickering fit. Well, we can certainly take care of that.

Faster than his simply human eyes could track, she snatched it out of his hand. It wasn't on, thank the Goddess, and she smirked at the expression on his face. To add insult to injury, she remarked absently: "I wonder if these rods break. You know, if you try hard enough."

He blanched slightly. "Okay, now give it back, yo." His voice was just above the normal comfort zone, and it was all she could do not to break down into laughing fits right there.

"Oh, I think not."

"Nuh-uh. Give it back, yo, come on!" he whined.

"Well, since you asked nicely…catch it if you can!" And she was off like a shot, running madly for the nearest staircase.

"H—WHAT? HEY! HEY, YO—" He wasn't too slow on the uptake, and went pelting after her.

"Sorry 'scuse me sorry AGH sorry!" She skidded through the halls of yet another dorm complex as Reno continued to tail her. Damn. He must really want his rod back. He was going to tire out eventually, since of course he was only human, but he was being exceptionally stubborn and she was becoming slightly bored with dodging cadets and receiving more strange looks than usual.

That is, until she spotted a short, skinny figure with a bob of black hair and a sassy attitude.

"Yuffie! Hey, Yuff!"

The girl whipped around in a ready position that, to Diana's surprise, was quite legitimate, as opposed to a random cheesy ninja pose. Diana panted only slightly as she screeched to a halt in front of the sixteen-year-old. "Hey, you wanna annoy Reno?" she inquired, grinning.

"Sure!" the ninja chirped, then abruptly looked childishly suspicious. "Why…?"

"Because it's Reno," Diana pointed out. Yuffie shrugged in agreement. "I've got his electric rod—" she held it up— "and he wants it back…badly. We wouldn't want him to get his hands on it too easily, now would we?" she smiled evilly.

"Of course not!" Yuffie sniggered. "Hi there, Reno!" As the redhead tore into view, looking around wildly for the brunette, the teenager jumped up and down, waving the rod madly. "Come and get iiiiiit!" she taunted, turning to pelt in the opposite direction down the hall.

Reno was swearing a blue streak—make that two blue streaks—by now, and Diana could hear him spouting curses that would make Cid Highwind the pilot proud even after he had disappeared from view.

"Why must you give her the incentive?" sighed a deep voice from beside Diana, who blinked in surprise as she involuntarily tightened her hold on the sweatshirt still in her hands.

"Hi, sorry, didn't see you. What's your na… Wait a second." She peered at the man who had materialized next to her. Those eyes looked awfully familiar, and no one else had that long black hair, although it was now pulled back in a neat ponytail. "Vincent?"

"That would be me."

"Wow. Uh…on the job, I guess?" she inquired. Instead of the red-and-black getup she had first seen him in—when he saved my life and Zack's, she reminded herself—he was wearing an official Turks suit. His hair was a dead giveaway, but his eyes were a deep amber instead of blood red. She supposed it depended upon when that demon thing inside of him took over, and he did appear to be in business mode at the moment. Not to mention she could see all of his face, finally. Yuffie had been right—he was quite handsome, just probably one of the most intimidating people she had ever encountered. He immediately struck her as dangerous, but in a way that was even more disturbing than clear brute strength. In a way, he reminded her of Sephiroth.

"Correct. I was attempting to keep the little menace from doing anything unnecessarily loud or rash, but I suppose that can now be considered a lost cause," he replied dryly.

"Heh. Sorry about that. At least she's having fun," Diana shrugged. "Hey, what're you doing around here, though? This is a SOLDIER complex." She examined him suspiciously.

"All that brings me here is the mediocrity of business. Oh, and the rooms of the General and the two Commanders are that way." He waved down the hall, indicating that she go left.

"I—wait, what? I know they're in this building. Why would I be looking for them?" A wrinkle appeared between her eyes as her eyebrows drew together in increasing confusion.

"No clear reason in particular. I just believed you might want to pay your friends a visit," he offered vaguely. "I must be going now and making some kind of attempt to do my job. I will see you again soon."

Why does everyone seem to know things that they shouldn't today? "Er…great. All right, then, sorry again and it was nice seeing you!" she called after him, as he was already striding away. "All of you," she muttered as an afterthought. Now the question is: do I take a hint from vampire-man, or do I run for it? …Oh, come on. That's hardly a question. Run away? As if.

She prayed that it wouldn't be awkward as she paced down the hall, towards Sephiroth's, Angeal's, and Genesis' rooms. It had been really strange seeing Genesis after he had kissed her, during that period of time after she had broken up with Zack. But shortly after that, he had been deployed to Wutai and had been gone for over a week and a half. Supposedly, he had only recently returned. She had still prayed that he would come back safely, because he had grown into a close friend during the two weeks when she needed someone the most, and he was a great guy. She supposed that he was perfectly unharmed from the mission, as she hadn't heard otherwise, and hopefully she could have a decent, conscience-clearing conversation with him. She still felt guilty for letting him kiss her, then getting back together with her boyfriend days later, and she hoped to rectify that.

She rapped three times on the nearest door down the left-branching hall. No response, but definite movement on the other side of the door. She knocked again, harder. Again, noise came, but no acknowledgment.

"I'll just break it down," she threatened, and suddenly, it was opened in front of her. "Oh. Hey, General. Way to ignore me." She pulled a bit of a face at him in a manner that probably wasn't conducive to her whole 'not-get-killed' objective.

"Hello, Diana."

"Hey, you remember me!" she brightened. Thinking back on it very carefully, she realized that she had only met him once as herself, for all the times she had spoken with him as Devon. Seventh Heaven had been their only encounter, and he had been completely hammered, sloshed, wasted, and all of the above, so it hardly counted. Then again, who else could she possibly be, considering he was familiar with her 'identical twin'? A strange tangent thought crossed her mind. What happens if someone sees me in passing and doesn't know whether I'm Diana or Devon? How do they ever tell…? Oh, right. My boobs. Kind of.

She gave a highly inappropriate snort at that and Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"So how may I be of help to you?" he inquired.

"Well…I know Angeal just left. But is Genesis in his rooms? Just wanted to say hi." She bounced on her toes.

"I believe he is. Next one on the right."

"Great! Fabulous. See you later, Seph!" she grinned, sidling up to the door across the hall.

The General made a face. "The Puppy is teaching you bad habits," he said dryly, but with an unusual note of amusement.

"I wholeheartedly agree," she said with feeling as she knocked on Genesis' door. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and the ghost of a smile passed over his face as he closed his door and retreated back into his rooms.

Just like before, there was a second of silence, followed by the rustle of movement.

She knocked again.

"Whoever you are, I'm busy!" came his slightly irritated voice, muffled through the wood of the door.

"Genesis, it's Diana, and if you don't open up, you know I'll break it down!"

Another beat of silence, during which he presumably paused to consider the likelihood of her following through on that. He apparently opted to keep his front door intact, because Diana heard him stalk to the door and open it a foot and a half.

"Diana!" He flung the door open wider.

"Who were you expecting, the delivery man from Kalm Fried Chocobo?" She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"Er, no, just—never mind."

An awkward silence ensued. Both knew that the other was thinking about the last time they had seen each other, and they both knew it, too.

"Look, Diana, I—"

"Don't bother."

He shot her a confused look that was just a little bit hurt. "What?"

"I know. You're going to try to say that what happened was wrong. Don't worry about it—I think we've both moved on and all, so…"

"…I was actually going to say I was sorry." This he directed at her knees.

She blinked and her brow furrowed. "Wait, what?"

"Here, come in. Where are my manners?" He smiled ruefully at the carpet.

"O-okay…" She stepped inside and settled herself on the couch that he directed her towards, not taking her eyes off him.

He sat, glancing absently at anything below eye level. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have acted…that way…towards you, but I did, against my better judgment, and—"

She cut him off. "Genesis, you don't have a thing to be sorry for." He looked up in surprise. "So it was an impulse. So what? You obviously don't feel right about it, and I don't mind now that it's over with, so there's nothing to apologize for." She gave him a small smile.

He was slightly at a loss for words, and he raised his eyes, looking just like a guilty child. "Honestly?"

"Yes, honestly. And of course you're still my friend. You were really good to me, you know." She tilted her head to the side.

"I—thank you." Genesis finally looked her straight in the face and met her eyes. "Yes. Thanks for that. How did you know that was what I was thinking?"

"I just know you that well. I believe this constitutes a hug. Come here." Diana stood up and held her arms out to him with a smile. The auburn-haired SOLDIER sighed and rose to stand a few inches taller than her, and she hugged him tightly. "I love you like a brother, and that isn't going to change that easily."

He smiled over the top of her head and embraced her back. "Of course not. Little sister," he tacked on.

She laughed into his shoulder and nearly choked on it. How long had it been since she had heard those words? Only by three minutes and forty seconds, but her brother had taken every chance he could get to remind her of his elder status.

She let him go and smiled at him. "Now that that's done with. What's been up with you lately?"

He started to reply, but blinked suddenly at her. "Di, your eyes…"

"What? Ohh! What color are they? !" She spun around, looking for a mirror, as he of all people would be bound to have one in plain sight. Spying one on the far wall, she darted over to it and stuck her face up an inch from the glass, leaving a spot of fog from her breath on it as she examined her own eyes. "Oh, wow, thanks, Gen. This a new one!"

"Huh?" he asked articulately, a bit lost and confused by this time. "Wait, I thought your eyes were gray!"

She waved a hand unimportantly. "No, that was just during the two weeks that we hung out so much. I was mostly mopey, but not enough that they were violet and not so that—"

"Hang on, you have purple eyes now?" He squeezed his eyes shut and held his head in one hand.

"I explained the genetic experimentation thing to you, didn't I? I must have," she said patiently, as the continued to study her irises. There was a ring of hazel around the inside, but most of the color was a warm chocolate brown.

"Yes, you did."

"I thought so. So the whole gene-changing thing?"

"Yes?"

"It comes out in my hair and my eyes. There's no way to predict the hair—which, by the way, gets really irritating when it decides to change color—but my eyes go by my emotions. It gets annoying, too, because people that know me well enough know how I really feel one hundred percent of the time, if they're paying enough attention. That's what I get for having my nineteenth chromosome screwed with," she continued offhandedly with a snort. "Teef and I figured it out, based on what color people tell me they see during which events, and it's actually kind of cool." She quirked a final grin at her reflection as the color tended more towards hazel, inching back towards green slowly.

"That's, er…interesting." Genesis raised an eyebrow. "I had no idea science could do that. Quite intriguing, really. So what does each color correspond to?" he asked, his curiosity piqued nevertheless.

"Well, the first to go was gray, because that's when I'm mildly annoyed or feeling just a little strongly about something. That's common enough. Then blue is when I'm really happy, like ecstatic about something, or I'm feeling a ton of hope."

"So that explains why all of those days, they were gray. You were lonely." The corner of his mouth twitched up. "Of course. That's logical. What else?"

"Well, this grayish-green blend is my completely neutral color, just when I'm chilling out and stuff. We're really not quite sure what green is, but we think it's like gray, only when I'm affected in a positive way. It's my normal color, seeing as how I'm not perpetually pissed off…well, not usually, at least…" she frowned slightly, thinking of a few possibilities.

Genesis nodded. "Makes sense to me. Go on."

"Purple was tough, because I only ever saw it once in the mirror, and the other time, it was Devon that it happened to—" she winced inwardly at the lie and forgot the rest of her sentence, but Genesis was ready with a question.

"Your brother's work exactly the same as yours?"

"Yeah. Same way. Twin thing, I guess. So anyway, Zack saw Dev's eyes go violet, but he didn't remember til later 'cause he was kinda unconscious… It was the Wutai mission with Sephiroth back in June," she explained. "I got the long story, but the short version is that Zack was sacrificing himself to get the other guys out alive, but, well, that wasn't gonna fly with Dev, I guess." She laughed dryly. "'Cause he flung himself in front of Zack and got shot twice, the reckless idiot. Of course I'm glad he did it; Zack was a goner otherwise. But anyway, Zack was nearly passed out on the ground from wounds anyway, and Dev thought he was watching his friend die and actually started yelling at him, and Zack told me later that my brother's eyes were purple then."

"Wow," Genesis murmured. "That really is something. So in short, purple is hopelessly depressed."

"Basically. The last one I figured out was yellow."

"Yellow?" he asked in exasperation. "Okay, granted, I understand that violet eyes are not exactly common, but yellow?"

"Well, I'm not exactly common, am I?" She asked rhetorically, blowing a piece of hair out of her eyes. "That was when I nearly got killed by that psycho and I broke my wrist and I hurt all over. So I figured that yellow signified extreme pain. And—"

"You nearly got what? !" he all but roared.

"Killed. Murdered. Murder of the first degree, actually," she considered. "Premeditated homicide and all that."

"Excuse me?" he blustered. "What happened?" He had gotten up and was in her face.

So she explained the entire story of her encounter the night before last. He was floored, to say the least. There were the common questions—who could he have been, why would he do it, et cetera—and Diana thought wryly that she would have to go through all this at least once again that day. Finally he calmed down, which took some doing, and they reverted back to the original topic.

"Brown. What could brown mean? We were being all nice and emotional," she shot Genesis a grin, "so I suppose when I'm being particularly open with my feelings? Or maybe showing care for someone?"

"I would say so, yes," the (other) SOLDIER agreed. He got up and strode into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and turning on the tap. "Water?"

"Sure. Thanks." She yawned briefly, thankful for the extra sleeping time that she had gotten that morning.

He took a glass in each hand and walked back over to her, barely starting to extend the one in his left hand but abruptly pulling it back. The corners of his mouth tightened slightly and his eyebrows drew together just a fraction of a millimeter. But Diana noticed. He passed her the one in his right hand instead and sat on the couch next to her.

As he sat and raised his glass to his lips, she spoke. "So what's wrong with your left arm?"

He gagged slightly, and tried and failed to cover it up.

"Come on, Genesis, I'm not quite that unobservant. Did you hurt it in Wutai?" she asked in sympathy. "Join the injured limbs club," she muttered, glancing at her left wrist.

His mouth tightened slightly as he took a fleeting look at her injury, still tightly bandaged up, but when he met her eyes he then looked pointedly away. "It's nothing—just something small."

"You know when you say that, you're just digging the hole deeper for yourself." She blew out a breath exasperatedly. "So what is it? Strain, fracture, or laceration?"

Evidently deciding that he wasn't getting out of anything, he muttered, "It's just a scratch."

"Okay, hand over the shovel before you hit groundwater. Come on, when did you get it?"

"Just an accident during training. Angeal and Sephiroth and I—" he broke off and looked on the verge of fidgeting uncomfortably. "Er, that is to say…we snuck into training room forty-nine while all the Seconds and Thirds were out."

She huffed at him in disapproval. "Again?"

"What do you mean, again?" he asked in surprise, obviously miffed.

"I hear everything, Gen." She waved a hand dismissively. "I don't even want specifics—Gaia only knows what you three have done to the condition of half the sims rooms. So how long ago did it happen?"

"…Friday the ninth. Just a couple days after I last saw you."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on. It's been a week and a half, and it's still bothering you?" she asked incredulously. "I know for a fact that SOLDIERs heal faster than that. Even I do," she added for good measure. "My wrist will be fine by this time tomorrow."

"Hmph. Well. That's what I thought, too, but I'm not sure what's going on," he relented. "I went to one of the Shinra doctors and he had no explanation, so I tried the Science Department and—"

"For the love of Gaia, don't trust the mental scientists!" Diana all but shrieked. "They'll tell you that half your body is defective, then slice you open and poke at your internal organs until you're irreversibly paralyzed and—"

"Diana, Diana! Relax." Genesis reached toward her placatingly. "I didn't actually show it to them. I just asked about a wound that wouldn't heal."

She unwound a little bit. "Oh. Well, okay, but still. What'd they say?"

He gave an undignified snort. "Think about it. They're dumb Shinra scientists. They said to wait it out, of course."

"Hm. Naturally. Can I see it?" she asked hesitantly.

He sighed and looked at her. Diana wasn't planning on making him do so if he didn't want to or pressing that matter at all, but he didn't know that, so he figured it wasn't worth fighting it out. "Fine, just for a moment—" He shrugged off his red coat, which gave Diana a bit of a surprise. He never took off his coat—she practically thought the leather was bonded to his skin by now. Underneath, he was wearing the standard black First Class uniform. A mass of bandages wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm, and he carefully unwound these, dropping them into his lap. They became increasingly covered in various substances, blood being among them, the farther he got.

"Oh, Gaia, Genesis," Diana half-gasped at the wound that was now visible. She shifted so that she was facing him and regarded the gash in shock.

It ran from just below his collarbone, over his muscled shoulder, and ended abruptly as soon as it reached his back. It was as if something had been thrown at him from the front, and Diana assumed that that was some version of what had happened. The area around it was red and looked infected and sore, the skin raised slightly. The cut itself was considerably wide and deep, and she was surprised that it hadn't gone through to the bone. There was dried blood, rusty brown and cracked, around the edges, and goopy yellowish liquid oozed from the spots that looked like they had been torn open most recently. It also looked to be bruised underneath, which suggested a heavy impact. Diana almost dared to ask what the hell did this to him, but bit it back. She tentatively reached out two fingers to touch the edge of the discolored area, but Genesis hissed and recoiled as soon as she made contact.

"Holy Goddess. It's really hurting you, isn't it?" she said worriedly.

"On occasion," he muttered, not looking at her.

She tsked. "How are you moving? You haven't been training the same amount on this, have you—?" she demanded, then thought of something and shot him a shrewd glare. "You were in Wutai with this."

"Look, I didn't have a choice, really. It was just before I left and I figured it would heal over on the way…"

"But it didn't!" she exclaimed. "I bet you picked up some kind of nasty foreign disease, too, have you seen how infected this is? No wonder the medics didn't know what to do with you."

"If I just give it time—" he protested stubbornly.

She shook her head. "Bullshit. It's been a week and a half, Genesis. That's a nasty one, but it should have taken three or four days at most, even with a bad infection."

He gritted his teeth. "I know that! But what else am I supposed to do? No one knows what's wrong with me."

She threw her hands in the air. "Who have you told, then? Do Angeal and Sephiroth know?"

He growled slightly and glared at the wall off to his right.

She crossed her arms. "Genesis…!"

"What, like you don't keep secrets when something isn't right?" he retorted scathingly.

She jumped slightly. "Like what?" she asked carefully. He couldn't possibly mean...no, no one else could have any idea...

"Just…things," he replied vaguely. When she raised an eyebrow crossly at him, he amended his statement. He shrugged. "Fair blabs. Angeal listens. Angeal talks. I hear things."

"Great," she muttered, somewhat relieved that her immediate instinct had been wrong. "Well, nothing like this has ever happened to me!" she said defensively.

"Mm-hm? And what about all those bruises you show up with almost every time you see Fair that you won't explain to him? Those also heal unnaturally fast, am I right?" he smirked, leaning over the side of the couch to pick up a fresh roll of bandages.

"I—that's just from training and—odd jobs—random things—" she stuttered, taken off guard. Did she really worry Zack that much? It wasn't like she didn't have a good excuse for being so beaten up all the time—she hardly even took notice of soreness anymore—but it wasn't like she could give a full explanation! Then again, a small voice in her head countered, why continue to be so secretive? It was at times like these that she seriously debated telling her secret. But she needed to be prepared for that. She needed to play it out right; mostly to ensure that she got away alive, especially if the authority figures were feeling particularly inclined towards cruel and unusual punishment.

"Mm-hmmm." Genesis rolled his aquamarine eyes and began an attempt to bandage his shoulder up again.

"Uh-uh! Wait, wait, wait…" Diana waved her hands exasperatedly. "Let me clean it out first. Then I'll help you."

He muttered something under his breath. "Aw, thanks!" she said brightly. "I'll just go and find some antiseptic, shall I?"

He was still seething quietly when she returned with a large, round white bottle. "I'm surprised you've got such a decent supply of stuff in your bathroom," she stated conversationally. "Although I guess I'd expect you of all people to be prepared for one thing or another." She tipped the bottle up into a wad of cotton swabs and frowned in irritation when a drop of the liquid got into a hangnail on her thumb. "Jeez. Why so grumpy?" She leaned over to peer into her friend's face. "Oh, I see how it is. You know it'll sting. Well, I'm not gonna lie; it will, but it's good for you, so don't complain too much." She squeezed a few drops into the cut experimentally, biting her lip when he hissed. "Sorry, sorry…" She worked her way over the whole laceration, wincing when he showed signs of pain. It must really be killing him, she thought unhappily. He's so strong, and a First and everything, yet it hurt when I barely touched it through at least five layers of bandaging.

"Okay, done. Can I have the bandages?" He handed the roll to her stiffly, and she could tell that the wound still stung a lot. "This is gonna take a lot of that antibiotic stuff," she muttered, squeezing a liberal amount out of the oversized tube she had retrieved from the bowels of a bathroom cupboard. She tried to get it into the wound without touching him, and was mostly successful, so she rewrapped the bandages with direction from Genesis. "There you go. Better?"

He sighed and turned it into a wan smile. "A little. Thank you."

"No problem. Look, take care of that for a couple more days. I have a friend who might know something about how to help you. I'll track her down and see what I can find out." She had been meaning to visit Aerith sometime soon, anyway. The Ancient had to know something about unusual injuries, right? After all, she was a medic, with a direct mental (or spiritual, or however the thing worked) connection to the Planet and the Goddess. Just, you know, for example.

"I'll do that. Do you really think this friend might know something that the people I've asked don't?" he asked gratefully, trying not to ruin it with the degree of skepticism.

She shrugged and gave him a secretive smile. "It's worth a try. Trust me."

"I do."

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it."

"Of course not. I'll see you later, then?" he smiled good-naturedly.

"You bet. Gotta run!" She got up and hugged him tightly before snatching up her sweatshirt and walking to the door, waving as she closed it behind her. He stood, smiling, and rolled his shoulder gingerly. It did feel a little better… Maybe there was hope after all.

A/N: So there you have it! Degradation rears its ugly head...ugh. This sub-plot will become more important to the grand scheme of things, you shall see ;) So tell me what you think after this somewhat prolonged wait! Click the review button! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!