Yuffie's fingers twitched as she looked down from the catwalk of the mako storage facility. Two Deepground guards stood, holding their guns and watching over the large vat. She glanced behind her at the Turk closely following, gripping her own shuriken. Cissnei's eyes narrowed as she looked at the two guards. Yuffie turned to her and the pair nodded. Each held their weapon and threw it.

The two shurikens hit their target before returning to their owner. Yuffie waited for some sort of alarm to sound, but it seemed as though no one had seen. "This is almost too simple," Cissnei said quietly.

"They weren't expecting this," Yuffie said, nimbly leaping down from the catwalk and rolling into a crouch. She looked around for other guards, spotting two approaching from the hallway. She cast sleep over them before they could see her. One, realizing what had happened made an attempt to contact someone on his com device before failing and falling to the ground.

Cissnei dropped down, landing easily on her feet. "There's one of the vats. You take care of it while I check and see if one of these guards have anything useful on them."

Who put you in charge? Yuffie rolled her eyes at the woman as she looked over the vat. It wasn't like the reactors she'd seen. It couldn't draw mako out of the earth, it simply held it. Deepground must have restarted a reactor somewhere to get it though.

"Watch your feet," Yuffie muttered, using her shuriken to cast demi over the vat. Its contents spilled over the floor, away from Yuffie so it wouldn't splash her. Cissnei glanced back and watched, impressed.

"You're good at magic," she noted.

Yuffie grinned proudly. "I'm an expert when it comes to materia," she said. Her eyes strayed to a piece of paper that Cissnei held. "What's that?"

"Map of the facility. There's two more of these," Cissnei said, looking over at the vat.

"Oh, great. You wanna actually take care of one this time? Or should I do that too?"

Cissnei frowned. "I could spill the next one. Come on, it's north of here." She walked away in silence. Yuffie frowned. This Turk was obviously all business. Much more serious than even Rude. And it was seriously starting to grate on Yuffie's nerves.

She brushed past Cissnei, muttering, "I'll lead the way."

"I'm the one with the map," Cissnei pointed out.

"Who needs a map? I happen to have the instincts of a ninja." At that moment a large guard monster perked up. Yuffie froze right as she came face to face with it. She ducked down as it snapped at her with its large jaws. Preparing a fire spell, she rolled underneath its legs. She was about to release the spell when it fell, Cissnei's shuriken lodged in its skull.

The woman retrieved her weapon, glancing at Yuffie. "Instincts of a ninja, huh? I think we should trust my instincts for now… and my map." Yuffie glared at her, but allowed her to walk past as they made their way to the second reactor.

"I could've taken care of the monster," Yuffie said.

"I'm sure you could have."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No."

"… Stupid Turks," Yuffie said, looking ahead at the faint glow of mako.

They moved on, easily taking down the guard that watched over the vat. Yuffie tapped her foot impatiently as Cissnei tried to tip the vat over with a grappling hook roped around a rail to create a pulley. "This is taking too long," Yuffie muttered.

"You're welcome to jump in any time," Cissnei replied.

"You wanted to do this one."

"No, you asked me to and… do you have some sort of problem with me?" Cissnei asked.

"What makes you say that?" Yuffie asked, preparing another gravity spell. Cissnei just crossed her arms and stepped out of the way. Demi hit with full force and the mako splashed to the ground. "One more. What time is it?"

"Hm…" Cissnei looked at a wristwatch. "A bit past eleven…" Yuffie sighed. It had taken a lot of time to get to the center of the facility. But at least they'd be able to find the last vat before noon. Then all that was left would be cutting the flow off to Deepground HQ. "Next one's down this hall," Cissnei said, pointing. Yuffie nodded and followed her.

As they reached the last vat, Cissnei threw her arm out to stop Yuffie. "What are you-?"

"Quiet," Cissnei whipered, gesturing to an overly muscled soldier with stitching scars covering every inch of his body. Yuffie frowned, looking at the monster. "They improved the helmets… you can't get them off now."

"So how do we beat it?"

"We don't," Cissnei said. "The second you cast demi, it'll see us. And then we run and hide."

"I think that's a stupid plan," Yuffie said stubbornly.

"Well, if you'd like to think of something better, I'd be happy to try it," Cissnei replied. Yuffie ignored her, rolling her eyes and preparing a gravity spell. Stupid, stupid Turks…

The spell hit and the two women ran. From behind her, Yuffie could hear the behemoth's lumbering steps, growing louder by the second. Cissnei looked back. "Next hallway we split up. You go left, I go right."

"I wanna go right," Yuffie said.

"Does it even matter?" Cissnei asked, exasperated. "Fine, go right, I'll go left."

They split up, Yuffie running right and leaping onto a light fixture. She swung on it, leaping through the air and then jumping off a wall, landing just high enough to grab the rails of the catwalk and pull herself up. She grinned at her own acrobatic feat, then headed towards where Cissnei ran. Yuffie's eyes widened when she saw that Cissnei's route had led to a dead end, and she was now backed into a corner.

The Turk held her weapon tightly, staring the behemoth down. Yuffie threw her shuriken which rebounded off its helmet, but caught its attention. "Hey! Up here, ugly!" It took a few steps towards her and Yuffie tried throwing her shuriken at it again. "C'mon, come get me!" Yuffie yelled, running along the catwalk, leading the monster away from Cissnei.

Yuffie stumbled as a large fist brought part of the catwalk down. She gripped the railing and leapt down to where the behemoth stood. "All right, big guy… Let's see how well that helmet holds up."

It swung at her, an attack that Yuffie easily dodged. She reached into her pocket for an ice materia and placed it in one of the slots in her shuriken. Another swing from the Behemoth and Yuffie flipped backwards, then cast her most powerful ice spell. The monster staggered and tried to move, but its feet were frozen to the floor.

A large shuriken collided with its head as Cissnei joined the battle. Yuffie cast bolt, then threw her shuriken at it as well, staying out of the way of its flailing arms. After several minutes, the helmet finally cracked and Yuffie was able to deliver a finishing blow.

With the monster defeated, Cissnei glanced over at Yuffie. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Don't mention it," Yuffie replied. Cissnei gave a slight smile and nodded. "Seriously, though, don't. I don't want people thinking I'd go out of my way to help some Turk… especially one who's all googly-eyed over Vinnie- er… I mean Vincent."

"Googly-eyed?" Cissnei asked. "I admire him, my mentor used to use stories about him as examples, but I'm not … infatuated by him, if that's what you're implying."

"Oh…" Yuffie walked ahead a few paces. "Well, in that case, you aren't too bad. For a Turk, at least."

"Thank you. You aren't too bad either…. For a kid."

"I'm not a kid! I happen to be twenty years old, thank you very much!" Yuffie said.

Cissnei held up her hands. "Calm down, I was joking. Let's go find whatever pipes all this mako up to the city, all right?" She quickly ran ahead, eager to finish the job. Maybe I read her wrong… Of course, Yuffie wouldn't admit that, at least not out loud. She would leave it at letting Cissnei know that she was an okay Turk in her book.

It was early the next day when the groups plans were put into action. Cid, Reno, and Rude were going to be joined by Yuffie and Cissnei, who had been successful in cutting off the city's mako supply. Cid paced as Kunsel, Vincent, and Rude studied the map they had brought. "Sir, how long do you think it'll take before we can move in?" Kunsel asked. It took Cid a moment to realize he was speaking to him.

"Can't say for sure. Y'all are gonna have to wait an' watch."

"Yeah, just give us time, Buckethead," Reno said.

Kunsel raised his hand up to his helmet. "Right, 'cause I've never heard that one before, Reno."

"Call 'em as I see 'em. Ready to go, partner?"

"Yeah…" Rude said, folding the map.

Cid looked over at Kunsel and Vincent. "You wait in place until most of the force goes to the ship yard. Soon as the coast is clear, go in and get it… got it?" Vincent gave a serious nod while Kunsel grinned and saluted Cid. Cid turned back to the Turks and Yuffie. "All right, let's get up to the shipyard."

They carefully journeyed to the shipyard, keeping out of sight of the guards that patrolled the streets. It took a while, but the five of them eventually made it up there. "All right," Reno said, holding a large smoke bomb.

"You guys are sure that won't blow us sky high?" Yuffie asked.

"Nah, it's just pretty, right partner?"

"Yeah."

"Then get your asses movin'" Cid said testily. Reno rolled his eyes, but ran out to the middle of a dock the second the coast was clear. He lit the fuse on the bomb and rolled it, sending a long stream of dense blue smoke through the shipyard. Rude set another, this one with bright green smoke. It wasn't long until they were completely obscured from view.

"The rest of us should go," Cissnei said. She handed Yuffie and Cid each a bag of small cherry bombs. Loud, but non-lethal, they would sound a lot more impressive than they looked. Yuffie ran into the smoke and quickly set a few off. A few guards gathered, looking for the source of the noise. Cid grinned and pulled a stick of dynamite out of his pocket. Just because everyone else was playing with little fireworks didn't mean he was opposed to using something stronger.

A rush of Deepground troops moved out of the Headquarters, down to where Vincent knew the others to be. Hidden behind the building, ready for action, his group waited. Though he couldn't see them, he knew that groups led by Kunsel and Tifa were close by, watching the HQ building as closely as he did.

As soon as troops stopped pouring out of the building, a gun shot rang through the air – the signal to move. Vincent ducked down slightly as he ran towards the building. It wouldn't do him much good to get shot in the head then, just plain inconvenient. He was within a few yards of the building when the doors burst open and a man with ginger hair and bright orange eyes stared right at him.

"…Shit," he gasped, turning and running back into the building. Vincent glanced behind him at the dozen or so people who stood, ready to back him up.

Estu ran towards the door. "Vincent, that was Argento!"

"Really…" Vincent smashed through the glass doors of the tower, running towards the sound of footsteps. Tifa, Kunsel, and a few of the Nibelheim troops followed. The lobby had filled with the remaining Deepground soldiers and Vincent could hear the beginnings of a fight between them.

He ran ahead of the others, down a flight of stairs into the basement. The room he had found himself in looked as though it had been made into a makeshift infirmary of sorts. It was dim in there, though Vincent could still see perfectly well. Cots, some soaked with blood, stood around haphazardly, and the scent of mako and formaldehyde saturated the air, making Vincent cringe. Argento stood on the far end of the room, looking though cabinets for something. He looked up at Vincent, his glowing eyes wide with panic.

"Stay back!" he yelled, still fumbling through the cabinet. "Dammit! Where is it all?" He threw an empty vial of mako to the ground. Vincent noticed the man's limbs were shaking, and he had to lean on a countertop for support.

"Mako withdrawal… you're in no condition to fight. Give the Proto-materia to me and I'll spare you," Vincent said.

"Shit! What the hell's going on? This wasn't supposed to happen!" Argento said. His eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the ground. Vincent blinked in surprise, stared for a moment, then took a step closer to him. He knelt down and began searching through Argento's pockets.

It happened in less than a second. Argento's eyes opened, Vincent felt a scalpel lodge in his throat. Wild eyed, somewhere between fury and excitement, Argento stabbed at him, again and again. Vincent's only reaction was to reach for his gun, but was only aware of a hot white heat between his eyes as the world faded away.

The lobby was in chaos. Estu sincerely hoped Vincent was close to finding the Proto-materia as he hacked away at one of the doglike creatures that had been set loose. Near him, Ami wasn't faring too well. Her revolver had been depleted of ammo, and she was forced to switch to the semi-automatic that she kept with her. She ran back from one of the Stratus soldiers, who kept swinging at her with a large hammer.

Estu ran towards the Stratus soldier, stabbing him through the gut as Ami turned and took a shot at one of the monsters fighting Jarim. "There's too many of these, still!" he said, reloading his shotgun.

"I know," Am said. She looked around the lobby, trying to find another opponent when the elevator briefly opened. "…Is that Weiss?"

Estu turned, spotting the white haired doctor before the doors shut again. "I'm going after him," he decided, running across the room.

"Estu, wait!" Ami tried following, but was cut off by a reptilian beast that she and Jarim shot at. Estu pushed the button for the elevator what felt like a million times before having to defend himself from an axe wielding foe. He blocked the attacks, then dashed into the elevator as it opened. "Estu!" he heard his sister yell again.

He ignored her, pressing the button for the top floor and blocking another strike from the axe. Inside the elevator, two swipes of his sword was all it took to bring the foe down. Estu gripped a rail as the elevator rose to the top. Please be there… Estu sheathed his sword and stared at the doors in front of him.

With a slight ding, they opened up, showing the room of computers he'd gone through to get to the roof top the last time he'd been in Junon. Weiss stood behind his desk, looking down at something on it. He glanced up at Estu, glasses briefly flashing from the overhead light. Estu took a breath, ignoring the feeling that Weiss could see right through him, and held the gaze for what felt like minutes.

"You followed me up here," Weiss stated. Estu silently stared at him, watching for any sudden movements. "Well… is there something you want?"

"The Proto-materia… do you have it?"

"I'm afraid not," Weiss said, standing up straight. He paced a bit, all the while keeping his eyes on Estu. "You know, I had a feeling we'd meet again of your own accord."

"And why's that?" Estu asked, ready to slit his throat the second he tried anything.

"You don't give up or let things go… you've made that rather obvious, son."

"Yeah well… did you just call me 'son?'" Estu asked. Weiss shrugged. Estu shook his head, infuriated, "No. Do not call me that. Just because you had a hand in my creation… You have no right to call me son!"

"Number Four, then…"

"No, I'm not a damn number. I'm a person. I'm a person, dammit!"

Weiss sighed, for a moment looking like a disappointed school teacher. "Why do you cling so desperately to that notion? You can see how shaky that claim is, can't you? After all, one created for the sole purpose of replacing another… one who was a failure of a replacement, for that matter-"

"Shut up," Estu spat.

"And you go back to arguments my idiot of a son would use… Why do you claim to be something you're not? When you yourself know how horribly wrong you are? Surely you feel-"

"I said shut up!" Estu drew his sword slowly, letting the sound of steel ring through the air.

"Are you honestly going to kill me?" Weiss asked, a taunting look in his eyes.

"I kill you now… this nightmare ends," Estu said.

"How would your troubles end, when you never know the truth?"

"…Truth? About what?"

"Who you are, of course."

Estu laughed at him, catching Weiss off guard. "Yeah, you're too late for that. I know exactly who I am."

"Oh do you? Surely you feel broken?" Weiss said, giving Estu a knowing look. "Don't you experience something? A fractured psyche? Identity issues? Do you… feel as though you're someone else? Do you look in a mirror and not recognize yourself?" Estu froze at the last statement, remembering how he'd avoided mirrors when he was younger. How sometimes his own reflection still gave him the creeps… like it was another person, watching him.

Weiss noticed his sudden unease, smiling slightly. "Do you… remember, at all? Perhaps a skill you can't explain having? A memory you mistook as a dream?" As he spoke, Weiss moved back, towards an open window.

"What do you know?" Estu asked. Weiss said nothing, coldly staring him down. "Tell me what you know, now!"

"I'm honestly surprised you haven't figured it out… at least when you were younger, our data suggested you possessed exceptional intelligence. Though the effects of the LFT unit may have taken a toll your intellect, at least to a degree…"

"Stop screwing around and tell me," Estu demanded, taking a step closer to the man. "Tell me! Ple-" No… he wouldn't beg. He wouldn't give Weiss that satisfaction. Estu took a breath, raising his sword. "Tell me now, or I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill me?" Weiss asked. "You'll know…Perhaps someday soon …" With that, Weiss leaned out the window and fell. Estu ran towards the window, staring down the dizzying heights. Wind blew him back as a helicopter rose, Weiss safely within. Estu watched helplessly as he flew away.

Vincent?

Aerith… help… help me up… please.

He felt her soft touch on his cheek, brushing past where a stab wound would have been. He opened his eyes, taking in the world of flowers, the bright sun and sky, Aerith's wide beautiful green eyes… She looked down at him, concerned. Vincent tried to stand, but he felt too weak. "I need to catch up to him… can you help me?" he asked, voice barely a whisper.

Aerith smiled a bit, extending her left hand. Vincent raised his own… a human hand, no gauntlet covering it up. She grasped it and pulled, gently but strongly, helping Vincent to his feet.

"Good luck…"

"Thank you," he whispered, looking around the basement. It was a moment before the searing pain hit him. He'd been stabbed all over his body, and felt each wound burn as he stood up. His blood had pooled around him, and a trail of dark red foot prints led away from where Argento had tried to kill him.

Vincent followed the footprints, back to a hallway, down to another room at the end. He heard the sounds of breaking glass within the room and opened it, finding himself face to face with Argento again. He stopped throwing glassware around and nearly dropped the vial of Mako he held as he stared at Vincent.

"No… I… I killed you. You were dead!" he said, backing up. "You were dead!"

"Yes, I was… may I have the shard now?" He held his gun aloft, pointing it at Argento's head. Argento ducked down, trying to grab the gun from Vincent's grasp. It was a feeble attempt, and Vincent easily gripped his arm and flipped him, sending the man to the ground with a thud. A crystalline shard fell out of his pocket as he tried to stand back up, wind knocked out of him. Vincent knelt down and pocketed the shard before stepping towards the door.

Argento reached for him, still on the ground, a bit of blood trickling from his mouth. "G- Give it back… give it back, you bastard." Vincent supposed he could have shot him, but honestly didn't think it would be worth the bullet. Argento struggled to sit up, looking utterly pathetic. "Give it back!" Vincent ignored him, slamming the door shut as he walked out.

Vincent headed back to the upper floor, signaling to Kunsel that he had the shard. "Fall out!" Kunsel shouted, leading the Nibelheim troops in a retreat. Vincent kept pace with him as they ran towards the shipyard. "Cid's got a plan to get us out, right?"

"Yes… We'll need to get over to him. Did we suffer any losses?"

Kunsel frowned. "One of ours… they got the better of one of my swordsmen. But we'll have to mourn him later." Vincent nodded, leading them onward.

As they turned around a corner and came within sight of the shipyard Vincent froze at the sight of a large ship with Cid waving from the deck. "…Well," he muttered. "Come on, we need to catch up."

Tifa looked over, finding a smaller speed boat and hopping in. "C'mon, let's go!" she shouted, pulling wires out of the controls. "Uh… can anyone…?"

"I've got this," Ami said, running forward. She manipulated the wires, connecting two and the boat came to life.

"How. How do you know how to do that?" Estu asked.

"Long story, tell you later," Ami said, speeding the boat forward. As they sped towards the ship, two Deepground jet skis came dangerously close to them. Vincent pulled his gun out and fired twice, hitting both of them in quick succession. He looked at the ship Cid stole, seeing several Deepground troops flung off the side. Ami pulled up to the side of the ship, matching its speed. "How do we get up there?"

Vincent looked up, frowning. A long rope fell down, landing on the deck near him. "Guess we're climbing," he said, passing the rope to Kunsel. "Climb up first, then help everyone else."

"Got it," the Lieutenant said, climbing up the rope. One by one every one climbed up onto the ship. Vincent kept an eye out for more Deepground soldiers, trying to attack, shooting at them when they came too close. When only he and Ami were left, he grabbed the steering wheel, motioning for her to climb. She pulled herself up, leaving Vincent alone.

Vincent steered away from the ship then ran towards the rope, jumping and catching it before pulling himself up to the ship's deck. On board, Cid and Tifa were taking care of one of the last soldiers who had gotten on board. Vincent leaned on the railing as he watched.

Cid glanced over, grinning. "Got another ship."

"I see that. Are we cruising back to the central continent?"

"Hell no. Watch and be amazed." He pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket. "Denzel, give the go ahead."

"Yes sir!"

Estu walked over, curious. "Go ahead for wha-" he stopped short as the entire ship rose out of the sea into the air. Wings and propellers jutted out from the sides, providing lift as it rose up. "Holy… This…"

"Ain't she a beaut?" Cid asked.

"One chance to ride a boat… nope, it's an airship too…" Estu muttered, walking unsteadily towards a flagpole and latching onto it.

"So you got it?" Cid asked.

Vincent nodded, holding the shard out. Cid took it, looking it over. "Nice. Hey Yuffie!" He looked behind him to see Yuffie leaned over the railing. "Oh… she's #$%^ing sick again."

"I'll bring it to her," Vincent said, taking the shard.

Yuffie shook her head as she heard his approaching footsteps. "Don't talk to me right now, I'm going to… bleh…" she muttered.

"Sure you don't want to see this?" Vincent asked, holding out the shard.

"Vinnie!" she said, turning towards him. "You got it!" She excitedly took the shard she had out of the pouch on her belt. Two thirds of the Proto-materia… right there. Vincent held his towards hers, letting the shards fuse together. "Wow… cool! Just one more and we'll have it all."

"Yes… just one more," Vincent said, looking to the west. Yuffie put the incomplete orb back into the pouch. She nudged Vincent in the ribs, knowing his thoughts had strayed towards Lucrecia, trying to keep his mind off the difficult task in front of him. "Don't…" he started, but instead smiled wryly and nudged her back.

"Hey, watch it," she said.

"You started it."

"Really? That's what you say? And people call me the kid," Yuffie said.

"Wonder why…"

"Jerk."

"Sorry," he said, walking towards the inside of the ship.

"Hey wait! It's a freaking term of endearment, you…"

"Jerk?" he asked.

"Yeah," Yuffie said, following him inside.

"This is officially the coolest thing ever," Denzel decided, looking out at the sky around them. "Hey Estu, you going to stop holding on to that pole?"

"Can't move…" Estu said. "I'll fall off."

"Don't be silly," Marlene said, crouching down near him.

"I'm not being silly."

"You're hugging a flagpole," Denzel laughed.

"Yeah, well this flagpole is going to be my new best friend, so there."

Denzel glanced over at Marlene. "Guess you got demoted."

"Darn."

They both seemed a lot more at ease with each than they had in a long time. Estu guessed that the success that day was helping, lifting their spirits. Marlene walked over to the rails looking out at the ocean. "Careful," Denzel said, watching her.

"I am," Marlene said, smiling. She paused suddenly, frowning. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Denzel asked, leaning against his staff. Estu cocked his head to the side, listening. A faint scratching sound came from the side of the ship where Marlene stood. His heart nearly lept out of his chest when a gloved hand grabbed the rail near her.

"Marlene, get away from there!"

"What?" she looked over at the Stratus soldier pulling himself up and ran back a few paces. Estu shakily stood, but a sudden gust of wind had him holding onto the pole again. Denzel twirled his staff, staring the soldier down.

He scanned the area, holding his large sword aloft. Same one as before, Estu realized, staring at the featureless helmet. "Denzel," Marlene said quietly, standing behind him. Denzel glared at the man, running forward and striking with his staff. He was hit with the flat side of the sword, sending him flying and landing loudly on the deck.

"No, Denzel!" Marlene said, rolling up a sleeve and casting a fire spell towards the soldier. It hit him squarely in the chest, but barely did a thing, despite Marlene's above average power. He shrugged it off and lifted his sword, walking towards the girl.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Estu and Denzel both shouted, running towards the man. They both attacked at the same time, but the soldier managed to block with both his sword and a bit of armor on his forearm. Estu swung again, letting him parry, trying to find an opening in his defense. Denzel fought as well, striking weaker blows with his staff.

Estu swung at the Stratus soldier's face, making a slight crack in his helmet. He staggered back, then looked between Denzel and Estu, deciding that Estu was the larger threat, to be dealt with first. When Estu swung again, the stratus solder twisted the wakizashi out of his grip, sending it flying across the deck. Estu began to run towards it, but the soldier grabbed him before he could even move.

Estu felt a splitting pain in his head as the whispers started up. This time, a single word was clear. RE…UN…ION…

The pain only stopped after the Stratus soldier threw him right over the rail. He screamed as he fell down, looking at the distant sea beneath him.

He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, only flailing wildly as he plummeted down.

"Estu!" someone shouted. He could barely hear them through the wind whistling past his ears.

Not like this! He felt his body, almost working of its own accord, leaning towards the ship, hands grabbing at windows. His fist closed around a chain, the rings burning his palm as he slid down, rust scrapping his skin. After an agonizingly long time, he came to a stop, though he still dangled over the seemingly endless drop.

Above him, Denzel and Marlene battled with the Stratus soldier. Tears running down Marlene's face, she struck with a powerful ice spell. It froze around the helmet, deepening the crack. Denzel struck the soldier on the head, causing him to slump down on the floor of the deck.

"…Denzel," Marlene whispered.

"It's okay," he said, hugging her. "It's okay, he can't hurt you."

"Estu…"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, holding her closely.

"HELP!"

They both jumped, running to the rails of the deck. Staring at Estu, clinging for his life onto the anchor.

"HELP ME!"

"Estu, you're alive!" Marlene said. "Oh no! Denzel, help me pull him up!" Denzel ran over to the anchor, working the mechanism to pull it up. "Hang on, Estu!"

Like I have a choice. Estu shut his eyes and held onto the anchor as it rose up to the deck. When the anchor was raised, Marlene and Denzel helped him onto the ship. He took a few steps before his legs buckled beneath him. "Estu?" Marlene asked, sitting beside him.

"I hate heights. I hate airships. I really hate falling," Estu said shakily, closing his eyes. "I don't want to be up in the air anymore. Can we please land?"

"He'll be okay," Denzel said. He glanced over at the Stratus soldier behind him. "…He's still alive too though."

"I'll take care of that," Estu said darkly, getting back on his feet. He walked across the deck, still shaking, and grabbed his sword.

"What are you going to-" Marlene ran towards him. "Estu wait!"

"Just don't look," Estu said, holding his sword over the man. Marlene shook her head, then glanced down at the man beneath them, eyes widening.

"No, don't!" she yelled, stepping in front of him. Estu stopped short, staring at her.

"What are you doing?" Denzel asked.

Marlene looked over at him, biting her lip. "Denzel, look," she said, pointing at the helmet, or rather the tiny piece of the helmet that broke away, displaying part of a face. Denzel looked at her in confusion. "Look! Help me get the helmet off!" she said, trying to pull it away from his face.

"Marlene, you're being so-" Denzel stopped, staring at the man. "No way…"

He shoved Estu aside, helping Marlene with the helmet. As they removed it, Estu looked at the spiky blonde hair that had been compressed underneath.

"Cloud," Denzel said in disbelief. He broke down, crying into the unconscious man's shoulder. "I can't believe it… Cloud."