I looked back and saw Kaito struggling for a grip on the floor, but the concrete shifted underneath him too much, and he soon fell onto his side just like everyone else. Like a sinkhole, the rooftop was caving in at the middle, drawing the rest of it down. Screaming ninjas slid through the gaping hole and into the depths of the collapsing fort.

Kaito squinted through the dust to see me.

"Don't just stand there! Get out of here!" Instead, I ran towards him. I skidded to my knees and caught him by the wrist. I arched my back, trying to pull him away from the fissure. "Idiot Hail! Let go!"

"Stop it!" I screamed in protest. "This isn't happening again!" I felt him press something cold against my fingers.

"Take it, okay!" He yelled. "Just take it- from me to you!" Then, when he'd fit the object into my hands, he painfully bent my fingers back. I would have kept holding on to, but after he broke them, I couldn't even try to hold on.

I went sprawling backwards, a Paper Heart in my hands, but nothing else.

Then, like a shot had somehow hit an old gas pipe, the roof burst into flames from the center out. I leapt to my feet and ran until the powerful blast of hot air kicked me off my feet and off the rooftop. The chopper suddenly swung under me, and I stretched my arm to grasp the reaching hand. I grazed her fingers, missed, and caught onto the edge of the swaying chopper.

And just as quickly as I'd grabbed it, I fell. Somehow I'd grabbed onto a blade instead, rusty, but sharp enough to cut my hand down the middle, and then I was falling.

Then I landed on my bed with a scream.

This time it woke Kris up too.

I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in days now. What was going on with me? I wasn't having those dreams about Wutai after I got back, but give me a week and they're all I'm dreaming about. They always ended with me cutting my hand on something…

The first part of that last dream was a memory. I really had been forced to leap off of the building, but Cissnei had managed to catch me and help me inside the chopper. There had been no sword…I'd never even cut my hand with a sword before. Not seriously at least.

I'd gotten the scar on my palm from a weird monster during the mission to the Nibelheim reactor. But that happened months ago…I thought I'd moved past that.

I got up early, since i didn't expect to fall back asleep anyways, and went to the training room on a whim. My legs seemed to carry me there when I was bored. I guess on instinct, since I was always in a hurry to get to Genesis' training sessions, I just always felt like I was late.

As expected, no one was there yet. So I put on the visor and dimmed the windows so I could perform a hologram mission.

They could be fun, but Hojo had been experimenting with them lately, making them harder. Out of boredom, I decided to try and beat my one-hundred in a row streak. The mission was self-explanatory, the room gave you 100 Infantrymen, and you had to take them all down. If you took too many hits, it would turn off the program and you had to start again. Which was frustrating for me, because I could have kept going plenty of times, but I still had taken one too many hits.

So I hadn't beaten the mission yet, and it was annoying me that some 3rds had already cleared it.

The room lit up again, though it looked slightly different, with more light running over the floors and walls. The first hologram Infantryman rose out of the floor, loading a gun. Before he could slap in the magazine, I'd cut him down. Then two appeared at once, going through the same motions as the previous. I caught them too, before they could even take aim. Then four appeared. They were doubling until I stopped erasing them so quickly…I wondered how high I could get them before they started appearing individually.

With two swords, I raced forward and sliced them down the line. Another bonus about hologram missions is how much cleaner it is. Not only is there no blood, but my uniform wouldn't rip unless I did it myself. If I had the willpower, I could stand and let them shoot me, and I would still look fine. Though, my mind would still perceive pain thanks to the helmet, but at least it was clean pain. If there was such a thing.

Now they were appearing randomly, sometimes two replacing the one I felled, sometimes in an entirely different place. They all took a moment to 'load' their guns and fire, but not in sync anymore.

I raced through the middle, loading a fire materia into the slot on my left sword. Fire lit up the sword like I'd dumped it in oil, and the holograms disintegrated twice as fast. I knew that THUNDER would be more effective in taking out larger numbers, but I was sick of that element for the day.

Each time a hologram faded, the number on my visor went up. I'd been watching it gradually add up for the last minute. I was getting close.

An imaginary bullet rocked into my shoulder, and my flaming sword whirled out of my hand. It extinguished the second it hit the ground, like it knew it had left my hand. That, and the materia bounced out of the socket.

Another bullet seemed to enter my leg, and my visor started flickering red warning signals.

"I know! Damn it…!" I rolled and skidded across the waxed floor to reach my sword. I only had five more holograms to kill! That would be easy! Then I-

My visor suddenly blacked out, screening a red message of death: "Mission Aborted"

"NO I DIDN'T!" I yelled, knocking myself in the head to hopefully resume the mission. "I didn't abort OR die! Come on!"

"Hail?" The door behind me opened, and I shook off the helmet with a hiss.

"How long have you worked here?"

"Hail, can-"

"Don't you recognize a mission when you see one? I was this close to getting a new record!" Okay, blame it on my lack of sleep, but I wasn't in a good mood. And now this. Plus Lazard hadn't given me a new pair of swords for the ones I lost during the Genesis raid.

Lazard crossed his arms and patiently waited for me to finish. But I had no more to say. He took a step inside, but I screamed and scrambled to the floor.

"Oh-Don't step on it!" I sat back up with the still-warm FIRE materia in my palm. "Jeez, you would have had the equivalent of a landmine if you stepped on that."

"Well, don't you know how ShinRa makes them?" He asked, moving out of the way so I could get outside.

"Materia? Cool…"

"Now, Hail." He resumed his serious tone, which reminded me of how he'd interrupted my near record breaking mission. My scowl of a pout returned.

"Yes, sir?" He frowned.

"Well, firstly, I'm surprised you're awake so early. This is odd."

"Not me. I can't sleep."

"Why is that?" I shrugged.

"Just weird dreams." I tapped my swords together, moving them down in an X shape. "More like nightmares."

"Oh. Well if that's the case, I'll set up an appointment with a doctor for you." The hairs on my neck rose. "He could probably prescribe some sleeping medication."

"That's fine, really. They'll go away like they always do." I mean, I had thought my LOVELESS dreams would be continuous.

"You've had them before?" I put my swords away.

"Not really! I'm fine!"

"Hmm. You better be. There's something that I need you to do…" When his voice trailed off uncharacteristically, I straightened up.

"Sir?" Lazard seemed to become more professional then too.

"Was Monroe acting strangely when you last spoke with him?" My arms dropped to my sides.

"Is he okay?" That wasn't the response Lazard was looking for. "Uh, I don't think so. He seemed okay..." Lazard waited, and I sighed. "Hojo was freaking him out, but I'm sure he's okay." Even as I spoke, I could tell that wasn't the case. "Is he?"

"Heleft the infirmary." I took a lurching step forward, ready to burst into a run if need be. I had a feeling it would be. Kunsel wasn't in good shape yet. Leaving the infirmary was still dangerous.

"Where is he now?" Lazard shrugged. "Damn it, can-"

"The secretaries think they saw him leaving the building." Damn it. I nodded, already backing away towards the elevator. "It's not officially a mission, I would rather not make a big deal about it. Bring him back soon before others begin to notice and I get the Turks involved." With a shaky nod, I ran.

I'd forgotten all about my hologram mission.

The secretaries couldn't see out past the entrance, so I didn't even know which way I should go.

"Come on…I figured out where Genesis was…" Just remembering that helped me. Where would Kunsel go? What did he need? Or…want?

I took the stairs to the Slums. I dropped down them at a dangerous speed, skipping entire flights and landing with a heavy clank that made the entire staircase tremble. Pedestrians above and below started swearing at me, but still moved out of the way all the same.

I didn't slow my pace when I got off the stairs either. I ran until I entered Sector 1, and then to Cher's Place. It was the middle of the day, and her store was crowded. Teenage girls and women were waiting on the sleek porch, laughing to each other with no realization for the dilemma I was facing. For my panic.

I walked into the middle of the dirt street and spun in circles. Had I been wrong? I thought Kunsel would have…

I let out a sigh through my nose when I finally saw the person slumped against the building in front of me. He'd concealed himself in the alleyway's shade, what had caught my attention were the glowing eyes.

I approached him slowly, but not too slowly. I was too worried to take my time. I wanted to know for sure that it was him.

I recognized the hospital outfit, light woven pants and a shirt, because I'd been forced into them so many times. And I knew they weren't much. The Slums were cold, and he was sitting on the even colder ground.

I entered the darkness and knelt in front of him.

"Kunsel?" He'd grown tense since I approached him. He was aware that I sat in front of him, but he wasn't ready to acknowledge me. I'd never seen him act this way before. It scared me. I repeated his name, and he took a heavy breath, then muttered,

"What." Really? That was his response. Asking me what in Gaia I was doing here?

"I know I ask about things you don't want to say, but maybe I should pry. Why'd you come down here?"

"I didn't want to be in there anymore." He whispered.

"Why?" Instead of responding, he looked past me at the girls in front of Cher's.

"These slums are so dark. The only thing that lights them up are artificial streetlamps, powered by mako…and her cloths. No one thought she could start a business like that, but she wanted to brighten this place up. And I just wanted to make sure she could afford it."

"So you joined ShinRa." I concluded, the black and white photot vividly coming to mind. I knew this story already. Not in the detail he was about to disclose to me though.

"It was one of the best-paying jobs at the time. Not like how it is now. I was excited to join. All the other teenage guys were. But my job would never have paid it off. Only when Cher was given enough compensation in gil after I…" He didn't mean to, but his throat closed and he swallowed. He wasn't like most people when they described a traumatizing event. No fidgeting at all. He spoke calmly, not even at a faster pace. Simple words, and I didn't notice he was struggling until he accidently swallowed.

"Reactor 2 blew up while I was overseeing the construction. They told her I died. But I hadn't really. Hojo took me for his experiments, just like it said he could in my SOLDIER contract. But he messed up, and I woke up. I knew something was wrong because…because he was so old. But I looked…not the same, since the explosion had messed me up pretty good, but I didn't have any scars or anything. I looked seventeen still, even though it was over thirty years later."

"There was a big case over what should be done with me. Hojo wanted to keep me in the lab, since I was the first…success at his preservation experiments. He'd been working on something to keep people looking the same- not aging. Maybe it would lead up to immortality, but I don't think that applies to me. They finally agreed to let me go if I remained at ShinRa, as a 2nd Class SOLDIER indefinitely. And…I couldn't tell my sister I was alive." Only then did I feel my eyes getting heavy. I pretended to adjust my legs and quickly rubbed my arm by my face.

"You never disliked your hair." I said. He looked up at me, a confused frown on his calm face. "You wear your helmet so no one can recognize you, right?" He nodded.

"Yeah, but I really don't like my hair either."

I had pried, and gotten my answers. So easily. And there was nothing I could say to him. Never could I relate to what had happened to him. He probably felt that it would have been better if he just died when he was supposed to. But never once did I see Kunsel indulge in self-pity. Sure, he could be pretty pathetic sometimes, but he never complained about it.

"Are you afraid of Hojo because he wants you back?" Like a scared child unable to speak, Kunsel nodded. I got on my knees and scooted myself right in front of him, taking his shoulders with my hands. "I promise, no matter what, I will never let him do that to you." I shook his until he looked at me. "If you ever go missing, I'll come and find you. Even if that means I get expelled from ShinRa." Sensing my seriousness, he finally looked me dead-on. "I promise." I repeated, hammering the phrase into both of our heads.

Despite never being certain about what I wanted out of SOLDIER, I always knew that my friends came first. Knowing how I could fail just as easily as any other, I still trusted myself to save them. If it came to that. It was something I didn't even have to think about.

Maybe that was my purpose in SOLDIER. Not to achieve something great personally, but to assure that others could.

I wanted Kunsel to feel safe. I wanted him to be reassured. No one should have to live in that kind of fear.

"I promise." I whispered. He closed his eyes just as they turned a relaxed shade of blue. He reached up and put his hand on my shoulder too, right between my shoulder paldrons and neck. It was like he was feeling my pulse. Then he rocked forward, and I could have sworn he was going to kiss me.

Just as his face passed dangerously close to mine, he went straight up as he stood.

"Fine. Let's go back to ShinRa." I smiled in his shadow.

"Finally. I thought I was going to have to drag you back."

He trusted me to save him too.