I'd first like to say that there is really no excuse for how late this was, and I'd just like to say sorry for abandoning it for so long. I had a bit of a long slump, and then mental breakdowns, and school, and jobs, and more things and I just felt like i didn't want to write this anymore. Not to mention getting obsessed with other anime/games.

But i just started writing this again and here I am. Sorry its so short and I'll say i cant promise any regular updates the way I am, but I promise to try my very best to make this my first ever finished long story.

I'm so happy that theres still people after all this time still following and leaving nice comments and I hope i won't disappoint you. Now with all that said, I hope you enjoy. ~Xar

There was a bit of crackling to the air he never noticed before.

It took him a few moments, but slowly the dregs of his mind called up memories and reminded him it was called wind. The silent breath that caressed his face, that was normal.

He felt like shit.

There actually weren't enough words in any language to describe how shitty he felt right now, but he had to force himself up. He had to remember. A small mote of panic rose in his throat as his breath grew ragged. What was his name? Where was he? As he struggled upward, a few red locks fell in front of his eyes.

Red…right…How could he forget his own name? Reno shook his head angrily, but stopped when the world reeled around him. His name was a floodgate and everything came rushing back to him, even though this feeling was unreal.

He didn't remember anything. Well, all the shit about being a herald and mako destroying his body, on a godforsaken quest to save the Planet somehow despite the Turks were now treated like criminals, yes he did. But after falling to the forest ground and hearing Cloud call out his name, nothing.

And from what he knew of his other memory lapses, Reno really didn't want to know what happened.

Aside from his racing thoughts, the scenery was peaceful. He could hear a flock of birds some distance away, quiet rustling of tree branches and if he concentrated hard enough, the gurgle of a stream. The grass was rough and natural against his exposed collarbone and he wanted to lay there forever.

But he couldn't. He was a Turk, in the end and he had a job to do.

Wait, what job? It was something important, but he couldn't remember…

Metal dug into his back as he stumbled forward, and a thousand images flashed into his mind. Black materia, Hojo…falling down forever, only to meet with soldiers-

"Cloud!" His voice sounded rusty, but it was definitely his voice. Where was Cloud? He had been right there where Reno landed, but now here, in this abandoned stretch of nature, he was the only thing.

"Fuck…" This wasn't a good sign. Had his friend been taken away while he was unconscious, or was a whole chunk of time missing again? The black patch on his left eye remained as he swiveled his head, his red ponytail flopping back and forth. No sign of a dumb blonde-haired SOLDIER. No sign of anything.

"Fuck!" Having recovered much of his strength, he immediately kicked a rock, sending angry vibrations up his leg. It didn't hurt, nothing did. He didn't care about pain while he was angry. He had enough of scientists fucking with his life, and he swore it was going to end but-

He'd failed, right? Whether it was Minerva's mandate, or his own free will, Cloud was gone.

But he was a Turk, and they always did their missions right.

Gloved hands tightened around his spear and the Crimson Devil took off into the forest, following the low tug in his heart that would lead him to where he needed to be.

Yuffie didn't understand what was going on. She was only in it for the materia, but even this was getting tiresome just trapesing across the countryside. Where was this Forbidden City thing they had to go see? And why in the name of Leviathan did they HAVE TO GO ON A BOAT TO GET THERE?

The time she was not spending throwing up over the side, she spent curled up on the nearest horizontal object that could fit her, ruing the day she ever took this trip with Angeal and Miss Claudia and the others.

She had seen Angeal get a phone-call from someone that made him so angry he crushed his phone. When he talked to Miss Claudia and Tifa, they both looked like they were crying, and even the red demon jerk seemed angrier than normal. He'd set fire to a tree.

But they wouldn't tell her no matter what. She asked and cajoled, but no one would say what was going on, so she just curled up on the table and kept her tears to herself. No one trusted her and she was stuck on a boat with no materia in sight. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her parents again.

Angeal tried to speak to her a few times, but she refused to talk, not that she could with her motion sickness. She wouldn't be deceived by his wicked ways! Not even Miss Claudia who seemed so upset that Yuffie got up and hugged her and let the blonde lady cry into her shoulder.

The place they had arrived at was called Bone Village, but she couldn't care less if it was Midgar itself, as long as the ground didn't move underneath her. After a couple more hours of being horizontal, her stomach finally felt fine, and she stared at Angeal as he revealed an item in his hands.

"I got us a Lunar Harp with the money we got from monsters. The men here were able to dig it up so we can proceed to the Forgotten City as soon as everyone feels up to it," Angeal said, pointedly looking straight at the little ninja. She just pouted and didn't make eye contact with him, so he just sighed and turned back to the rest of the group.

Genesis was nowhere to be seen, and Tifa and Miss Claudia both seemed ready to go. "Let's just get going. We cant help anyone if we're stuck right here!"

"You're right Tifa. Zack and Aerith are waiting for us." Angeal hefted his broadsword with him and turned towards the big forest, harp in hand. Yuffie padded silently after them, her eyes sharp for anything interesting.

The forest, once they reached the edge didn't seem that cool either, just an impassable maze of trees and more trees. With one stroke of the Lunar Harp though, before her very eyes, the trees rustled and the shadows folded in on themselves, revealing a low lit path into its depths.

Big giant red-head jerk dropped from the sky in a rush of black feathers, only to stumble and fall into Angeal's arms. He didn't look good-in fact, he was less red and more grey. Feathers were shedding all over the ground and he had to hold onto Angeal to walk.

Yuffie almost took Miss Claudia's and Tifa's proffered hands, but bit her lip and swore to be brave. She was the feared ninja of Wutai and she would do something to prove to these guys that they were wrong for not telling her everything!

Only a few steps in and she was immediately distracted by a red glint off to the side of the path, slowly moving away from them. Materia? Or treasure?! Either way it had to be good. With all the stealth of her ninja heritage, she slipped away into the forest to chase after the elusive treasure.

Only a few weeks into the journey and Angeal got a phone call from one of the Turks that Sephiroth had fallen into madness. Cloud and Reno had disappeared without a trace and Hojo was behind it all.

Only a few weeks until Genesis realized what a failure this had been.

Who was he to keep faith in a broken and suffering world? Here he was, pain coursing through his body with every movement, falling apart from the inside. All of the poisonous J cells were gone and now the light that provided him hope, one that maybe he could be an angel of the Goddess, was gone as well.

And Sephiroth, his dear friend, my friend why do you fly away now, to a world that abhors you and I?

Why have you abandoned us again, to chase after a dream and a madness that was never yours? Monsters they were and monsters they would always be, a golden haired boy showed them what could've been.

But Sephiroth had the Black Materia now. What could they do? How was he to regain favor with the goddess and receive her blessing?

"Genesis..talk to me. I can't lose you again. Are you okay?" Angeal's voice broke through his self-pitying haze. His friend…how he was guilty of abandoning them all.

"I would think with one look that would be quite obvious, Angeal," his hissed through narrowed teeth.

Angeal chuckled slowly. "Well, at least you still have your attitude. Don't worry. We're going to the Forgotten City and we'll save you, I swear."

But what about Angeal? Who would save him? And who would save Sephiroth? Genesis cared little for this world that had spat them out and treated them like tools, but his beloved two were in reach again and he just had to-

You're not a monster, Genesis.

Who had said that? Cloud, or Zack? Did it matter?

"Infinite in mystery…I will save you, I swear. And we will be reborn."

The light up ahead grew brighter and brighter until they had arrived. A shimmering lake appeared before them, dressed in the soft green glow of the trees around them. Genesis hadn't noticed, but they'd slowly faded into white and now the whole area was bathed in their light.

Behind the water, a twisted tree grew upwards, casting a silhouette onto the surface. Its boughs could only be described as delicate, but they looked as if they were made of crystal, not wood.

Truly a miracle of the Cetra.

And in the middle of it all, framed by the pouring silver, was a figure of a woman with a bow in her hair. She turned around, and Genesis was struck by her presence. He could tell. Her green eyes captured him.

She was an Ancient.

"Hello. We've been waiting for you," Aerith said, smiling.

Reno stumbled and fell for the third time, and he couldn't tell if it was due to his missing eye, or exhaustion.

The theory that he'd just woken up after the attack was blown completely out of the water when he discovered that not only were there no signs of dead bodies or battle near him, he was on the borders of an extremely jungly area. Mideel or Gongaga, it didn't matter, because he already hated life enough.

There was a tug in his heart that told him the direction to go, even if he didn't know it himself. Reno couldn't exactly describe it, but it was almost as if something was pulling him to the North.

But that wasn't all. There was another stronger force pulling on him, far more urgent than the other. It was deeper-set, but all he had to do was quiet his mind for a moment and Reno just knew it was Cloud calling for help. They seemed to be soul bound, anyway, and hell if he wasn't gonna answer.

That answered the question of where he needed to go. The rest of the world seemed to be unimportant right now, since nothing would work without the guy who made it all happen…

Oh, who was he kidding? Reno needed to save him. It. Was. His. Job. He dug his heels in and shot off, blazing a path through the forbidding forest, spiraling north, north, ever northward in search of his charge.

He ran. He would not fail.

Yuffie didn't like the look of this forest. There were too many shadows for creepy things to hide in and while she totally didn't want to go and run back and hide behind Miss Claudia or her bodyguard, she took very, very careful steps.

Unfortunately to her nerve wracked brain, every step echoed painfully with a crunch of leaves. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks a little bit. She was Yuffie Kisaragi, the princess of Wutai! She had nothing to fear. Besides, where did that materia-

The little red dot passed in front of her and she rocketed forward, hands scrambling through the grass and dead brush. It was fast for a materia, winding its way in a giant loop, but Yuffie was faster, and in no time, her tiny fingers wrapped around the cold, glowing red stone.

She eagerly brought it up to eye level, turning it this way and that. A red materia, those were summons! She squeaked with joy, hopping up and down on the spot. She was sooo lucky! Summons were the rarest and most powerful materia and here she stumbled on one just randomly wandering the woods. And by the little jolt of electricity it gave her, she figured out it was probably the Ramuh summon they had taught her about.

Treasuring this moment a bit more, she looked around, ready to go back and show the group only to discover…the woods had closed up behind her. She was alone. In the middle of the creepy woods.

It's okay, right? I'm an awesome kunoichi and I have a materia now. There's nothing to be afraid of, and there's no monsters. She still had her giant shuriken and a couple of knives she'd stolen from a store, so she wasn't defenseless but…

Yuffie was starting to get worried.

She went into complete stealth mode after that like she did when trying to sneak out of the palace. Not a sound could be heard from her as she crept forward, looking for any visible landmark that would bring her back to the others. What if that harp thingy had run out and she was stuck here forever? No, Angeal and Claudia and Tifa would come looking for her. She clutched harder to the materia as she inched forward.

Yuffie couldn't tell how much longer it was until she started hearing voices. At first she was excited that she had found people, but the elation didn't last. These weren't good people.

She climbed a tree to get a better vantage point but it was still too dark to see things really clearly. Pushing aside a few leaves, her eyes widened as she took in the makeshift camp just below.

There were a couple of people gathered around a small clearing with some really strange looking machines-that were really weapony-looking-and had big guns. What's more, their outfits were all blue and grey and looked like they lit up. They weren't mechanical people, but their outfits certainly were.

"You really think whatever's in these woods is worth it?" A bored male voice said. The woman to his right answered him.

"I don't know. Don't care, but orders are orders. You know that, don't you?" Her voice was smooth and angry, making Yuffie shiver. "The revival of those two goes against our plan. Besides, the Cetra will just get in our way."

The Cetra? Who did they mean by that? The words sounded familiar, like Angeal had talked about it in passing, but Yuffie usually forgot anything not important. Figures it would be. But the other two, did they mean Angeal and red jerk? If so, they were going to have to answer to her. Nobody hurt her bodyguard.

"Come on. Back to base. This place is a maze without a Lunar Harp. We need to get another one." The third one spoke up and then the people and machines started moving. Yuffie saw the opportunity and took it. Not only would it get her somewhere that wasn't lost, but she could figure out what these clearly bad guys were doing. And then they would trust her.

She dropped down out the tree and followed the soldiers like a shadow.

Doctor Morrison looked at the sheet of this newest patient. Another one? Recently, hospitals had been getting an influx of new patients with very strange symptoms. It couldn't be coincidence that this all started when the Lifestream had burst from the earth around Midgar and mako pools started forming-even the local flora and fauna were being disturbed.

And now this…what does it mean? It was like the Planet was sick and it was starting to infect the living things on it. He was no scientist, he couldn't figure it out. But something terrible was happening, he could feel it in his gut.

He knocked on the door gently and opened it, coming inside. The patient was a young woman in her twenties who normally bred chocobos, but after a close brush with a mako-infected monster, she started getting sick.

Her symptoms included dizziness, nausea, fainting, a sudden pain and discoloration in her left arm, mental instability, and hallucinations. It normally started out mildly but got quickly worse as the discoloration spread.

For now, she was sat up in bed, staring at the other side of the wall. "How are you feeling today?"

She didn't answer, so he set down the clipboard and went to check her arm. Gently rolling up the sleeve, he went to check the bruise that had formed and involuntarily took a breath. It had grown far larger than in the photographs he was sent and now was seeping some black liquid. He called the nurses so they could bandage it and perhaps give her some painkillers, but she didn't really seem to respond too much.

Had she lost all hope to live? Or…

"Um, is there anything you want to tell me?" Dr. Morrison asked, concerned.

"…It hurts. My arm hurts."

"I know that. Don't worry, we'll give you something to help."

She turned towards him, a few tears seeping out of the corners of her eyes. "Will it make the voices go away too?"

He choked on his own words. "V-voices?"

"I know, I must be going insane, but I can hear her. And it really hurts…" she slumped down onto the bed as the staff finally arrived.

She was the third one to say that to him. What was going on?

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Flop.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip….

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't open his eyes, or move, or talk, or anything. All he could do was listen.

Drip.

Drip.

Beep…..

He became aware of his heartbeat. Not because he could feel it, but because the beeping told him somewhere, he was still alive. Was he? He couldn't tell. What his name was, if he still was human…it was all a dream.

Certainly he would pretend it was that way.

Because if he woke up, he knew there would be pain.

Pain, and voices, and needles and knives and mako and syringes and machines and

Pain

Where was he?

Reno? Reno…

Was Reno okay? That question floated on the green haze of his mind. He reached out with his bare soul and searched desperately. He knew that maybe he could find the red-head this way, like the last time, but there was nothing but an echo.

Reno…

Where was everyone?

A finger twitched. Was it his finger?

…..

….

He didn't seem to be floating anymore. In fact, he could feel his skin again. Was he alive? His mind was still floating in the green abyss, calling out to someone who wouldn't answer.

He finally remembered his name and what brought him here. That horrible man, the one who scared him and terrified him into nightmares, the one who the very Planet had warned him of…

He was now his prisoner.

Sometimes he could hear someone calling him, a woman's voice. It almost sounded like his mother, but it wasn't. He knew it was his mother's voice. Was this the same person that had been calling Sephiroth this entire time? Was this…Jenova?

Sephiroth.

He failed. Sephiroth had the black materia. He had failed as a guardian of the Planet. What use as a WEAPON was he now? He had failed his duty, and his dreams, and his friends…the ones who still hoped for him while he floated away from existence….

"Za….ck.."He felt his lips move. He heard his own voice. He was alive.

It was so cold here. It was like the one winter when he and his mother didn't have enough money for heat, so they huddled in front of the fire. Couldn't he have someone to do that? Couldn't Zack-

If he concentrated hard enough, he could feel Zack's hand in his. He could remember the little time they had in the cave, where Zack showed him how to work a fire materia and held him with strong and warm arms and told him it was okay, everything was okay, nothing would hurt you while I was here-

Why couldn't he be here now? He curled in farther into himself, imagining the warmth of Zack's light and never wanting to wake up again. It would be okay that way. His limbs were too heavy, and so were his eyes. If he concentrated, sometimes he could feel hands and the prick of needles. Voices, people doing things to his body.

But he was inside in his little world, protected by memories of his friends and a warm, Golden light. They couldn't get him in here…

He desperately wanted to hold Zack's hand again. To smell his mother's food. To see the way Reno's eyes lit up as he saw him return.

But he couldn't. And despite desperately wanting to, Cloud had no tears left to cry.