By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Part II: Reunion

Chapter 23, Burdens of Truth

December 22nd [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

Dawn broke over Nibelheim as if Ifrit had lit the sky himself, and soon gave way to morning's clear blue as everyone at camp packed up their supplies and began the breakdown in anticipation of the day's journey. Cloud was helping Zack put away the tent they'd shared with Kunsel the previous night while Aerith and Tifa worked with Yuffie across the campsite.

He stole a glance at the martial artist, watching her run a hand through her hair to pull it behind her before helping Aerith put away their tent poles.

"Cloud?" He whirled around, suddenly remembering what he was doing as Zack got his attention and hurriedly went back to helping his friend. Zack sighed and shook his head with a grin. "Sorry, for a second there I was worried you'd spaced out again, but then I saw what you were looking at."

"No I wasn't." Even to him the rebuttal sounded pathetic.

Zack tackled him and playfully ruffled his hair. "Come on. There's no shame in it. She's a pretty girl. They both are, and look, they're flattered." He gestured that he look back across the campsite.

Aerith was watching them, a hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her infectious grin. Tifa was also smiling a warm smile, apparently having had their ogling pointed out to her by the flower girl. Zack burst out laughing and Cloud's attention was directed to Yuffie, standing behind them, grinning madly and yet somehow, striking a pose that was clearly meant to be alluring.

"Oh, is that how you wanna play it?" Zack called across the ashes of the campfire. "Check this out!" He brought up his right arm and flexed his bicep, showing off the tone of his enhanced muscles which had, on several occasions previously, caused girls to swoon, especially members of his old fan club.

Aerith turned to Tifa with a smile alight with conspiracy. "We can't let Yuffie have all the fun!" As Tifa watched, eyes wide with surprise, the flower girl pulled her jacket slightly down her arms, only just revealing her bare shoulders past the sleeves of her simple dress. She placed a hand on her hip, blowing her boyfriend a kiss and batting her eyelashes while doing her womanly best to be as seductive as possible.

Cloud proceeded to blush and pretended to be focusing on something off in the trees due to finding himself unable to keep a straight face. This flirting contest was getting out of hand. When it was clear he wasn't going to join in, Zack finally relented. "All right, I guess that's enough." He crossed the campsite to Aerith. "I apparently can't resist you." He gently pulled her close and she returned the hug, still laughing.

"Do you two need to get a room or something?" Yuffie asked.

"You started it," Zack said.

Cloud tried to busy himself by checking to make sure they'd gathered the rest of the tent stakes. It was only when he finished that he realized Tifa was standing next to him, holding his knapsack out to him, her own slung over her shoulder. He took it from her and offered a shy smile. "Thanks."

She returned it with one of her own, nervously. "No problem…" They stood there in an awkward silence for a bit before she spoke again… "Um… about yesterday…"

"Yeah?"

She pulled back shaking her head. "It's nothing. We should get going."

Cloud shrugged. "I guess so."

Everyone gathered at the edge of the campsite where Freya was saying goodbye to Mao. He held his sword at the ready in his right hand as he spoke. "I'll be sure to call you if I see any change. You can count on that."

"Thanks for all your help," Freya answered him.

"We're Turks. You'd do the same."

"You know it." Freya gave him a last wave as she turned to follow the others down the road south. He stood there until they could no longer see him when they looked back, a lone ronin on a deserted path. Cloud watched the lady Turk walk past him to get to the front of their group, and then noticed Zack and Kunsel discussing something over the map again. It occurred to him that this must be the very route by which Zack had escaped with him. He tried to think back through the confused jumble of those days to see if there was anything clearer to indicate that time in his mind, but sadly, he found nothing. Instead, he ended up wandering through the brief flash of clarity that had come to him in the lab, and the unmitigated terror it had inspired in his heart. He shivered. It wasn't something he ever wanted to experience again.

That was when he heard Aerith from somewhere close to him. "What is Jenova anyway?"

"What?" Tifa asked, curiously. As Cloud looked over, he saw the two of them were walking next to each other a short distance away.

"Well. We've come to the conclusion that she's not a Cetra, so what is she?" She adjusted her grip on her staff, pondering the question.

"I don't know," Cloud said. "She didn't look like anything I'd ever seen before."

"Maybe we should ask the planet. I've tried listening to it, but it's not nearly as clear as it was in Mideel," the flower girl mused.

"You can do that?" Tifa asked.

"If I try hard enough," Aerith confirmed, "Mostly, I can just listen, but sometimes if I try, I think it can hear me too."

"That's quite a gift." Cloud suddenly heard Nanaki and glanced down to see he was walking at Aerith's other side. "I had heard the Cetra had incredible powers, but I wasn't sure it was true before."

Aerith gave him one of her winning smiles. "Thank you for saying so."

Tifa was still thinking. "I wonder why all those books down in the library were about Jenova being an Ancient?"

"Who can say?" Aerith mused, maintaining her pace as she thought aloud, "But I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually, just like we'll figure out what's going on with the Zack and Cloud, and Sephiroth."

"I hope so," Tifa agreed, turning to look at Cloud. "You've both been working on that for a while, haven't you?"

He nodded, though he suddenly felt the urge to keep his gaze directly in front of him. "Yeah… um…" He tried to think about his words carefully. "Sorry… if I scared you yesterday…"

Aerith shook her head, the tone of her voice kind, but firm "Don't worry about it. You didn't know that would happen, and it wasn't your fault, right?"

"I guess."

He suddenly noticed that Tifa was walking a little bit closer to him. Aerith continued "Good, no more worrying. We're going to find Sephiroth, and sort this mess out. Then we'll all go home and celebrate. I know she'll love it at the lodge, and it'll be even nicer once I get my flower garden planted."

"Is it really as nice as she says?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah…"

They were suddenly distracted by Barret trying to make conversation with their newest party member. "That's a nifty handgun you got there. How good are ya with it?"

Vincent was silent for a moment before raising the weapon, pointing it at a tree and quickly pulling the trigger. The gun went off and everyone looked around stunned. At first, nobody moved and then suddenly, Cloud heard a light thump as a Needle Kiss that had been resting in the tree suddenly flopped onto the ground dead, shot through the heart. Vincent calmly blew the smoke off the barrel and holstered his weapon, the nonverbal response more than enough to vouch for his skill. Barret stared in disbelief. He hadn't even seen the bird.

"Whoa," Zack murmured when he realized what had happened.

Vincent continued onward, without a word, though the hint of a wry smile peeked out from over his collar. As though this were the signal to move on, Zack cleared his throat, continuing the march and the others followed after him, all previous conversation nearly forgotten.

A couple of hours passed and it was around mid-morning when they arrived at a river. Upon finding it, Zack spent a moment trying to get his bearings. "If I remember correctly, there was a bridge somewhere up stream. I was able to get to it pretty quickly, since I had a motorcycle at the time, but they had a perimeter set up."

"I don't expect they would now since aside from the actors most of Shinra's personnel pulled out after they failed to catch you." Freya commented.

"All that attention just for us? How sweet." Zack said as he led the way by the flowing water. Cloud couldn't help but notice that the humor of the statement wasn't shared by the tone of his voice. They followed the dark haired SOLDIER along the riverbed for another hour or so. Cloud pulled up ahead so that he was level with Kunsel and Freya, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous, but all they could hear was the flowing of the water and the occasional cries of small birds.

"There hasn't been any sign of anything passing through here has there?" Zack asked Freya at one point.

"None. If anything came through here it wasn't on the ground," The lady Turk confirmed.

Zack acknowledged her response with a nod and then continued onward, eyes alert for the bridge. At one point they passed a ford, but there would have been no way to cross it safely without a vehicle. When they found the bridge, it was deserted just as the lady Turk had reported, so they walked across without incident before Zack paused. "Okay, I think we should spread out just a little bit, that way, we have the best chance of finding him. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Kunsel was already pulling out the map again. "It would probably be best to play smart on this one. If there's one thing I don't think we should do, it's approach him alone."

"You're right," Freya agreed. "It would probably be better to make a line from the mountains to the beach, maintaining PHS contact, and then have a message signal planned. Standard Turk protocol for a large search of this type would be to have it already typed into an email so it can be sent directly to all parties once the target's been sighted…"

While they were talking, Cloud noticed that Nanaki had wandered off to the edge of the group and was sniffing the air, his hackles raised. "Something wrong?" He asked.

Nanaki was quiet for a moment, and then he said "I think a search won't be necessary."

"You got him?" Zack asked.

Nanaki growled distastefully. "There's a wind blowing up from the southwest that's carrying Jenova's scent. If we follow it, we should find Sephiroth"

"You're sure?" Freya asked.

"Positive. I don't think I could ever forget that smell, especially after Junon."

Zack checked the Buster Sword to make sure it was secure on his back. "All right, lead the way."

Nanaki walked a few paces ahead of Zack, sniffing the air every now and then to check that they were still on the trail. It wasn't long before he paused. "I think we're close." He said at last. "The smell of Jenova seems like it would be strongest from just over that hill." Everyone prepared their weapons, and Zack took the front position. Cloud took a ready position at his right shoulder as Kunsel took the left. Once they were sure everyone was prepared, they walked over the hill. There he was. The same black leather coat. The same self-assured arrogance. His white hair glistened in the morning sunlight though it was fast getting close to noon. Sephiroth stood waiting for them, as though he were expecting them.

"I see you've been revisiting old memories," He said with a knowing smile. "Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"

"We don't even know what that is!" Zack called across the expanse that separated them, taking a step forward.

Sephiroth's eyes shifted from Zack to Cloud and back again, almost as though the others in the group were completely irrelevant. "Jenova will be at the Reunion. She will join the Reunion becoming a calamity of the skies."

"Calamity of the skies?" Cloud asked. "What's that all about?"

The former general raised his eyebrows. "…I see. Perhaps you don't have the right to participate." He glanced away from them, out over the plains towards the rising cliffs that beckoned towards Nanaki's homeland. "I will go east, past the canyons. If you wish to find out… then follow…" With that, Sephiroth reached into his coat and pulled something from it. Thinking it was a weapon of some kind, Zack raced forward to try and stop him but ended up getting hit in the face by a green materia the former General had thrown at him. Sephiroth appeared to float over the grass below him before suddenly flying off in an easterly direction, faster than anyone could possibly run, not even Nanaki.

When it was clear he had disappeared, everyone looked around warily but lowered their weapons. Zack shouldered the Buster Sword, his face hardened with determination. "Well guys, I guess we're headed east."

"What was that thing he threw at you?" Freya asked.

Zack picked up the small green orb and held it experimentally. "Feels like… Destruct?"

"Why did he go to the trouble of walking all this way, just to throw something at you and then lead us back the way he came?" Yuffie wondered.

"The hell if I know," Barret growled.

"Regardless, we need to keep going. Whatever this Reunion thing is, it can't be good," Cloud said.

"Calamity of the skies…" Zack mused. "What did he mean by that?..." He stuck the new materia into his pack and looked around at those assembled. "We won't solve this mystery by sticking around here, let's get moving."

Nanaki sniffed the air again. "I think we'll be getting a storm in an hour."

"Why do you think that?" Tifa asked.

The red lion flicked his tail as he explained. "Two reasons. The first was that the sky was red this morning. When the sky does that there is a lot of moisture in the air. The second is that the air pressure is changing. It will arrive soon." They continued further in an uneasy silence for about an hour as the canyon drew even closer.

True to Nanaki's prediction, they were starting to get close when the darkened thunderhead appeared to the west of them, floating out over the flat land, beckoning towards the sea. As it rumbled ominously, Cloud looked out across what remained of the plains, alert for any further sign of Sephiroth. It was about that point when he spotted what looked like a pair of headlights along a road off to their left. "Guys?" He indicated the oncoming vehicle and Kunsel reached into his bag, retrieving a pair of field binoculars.

After looking through them for a few moments he lowered them. "It's Rufus, and it looks like Reno, Rude, and Elena are with him." No one needed to be told what that meant and everyone ducked low in the tall grass as the car approached, passed them, and continued onward towards Nibelheim.

Once the engine noise died, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. "I guess they still think Sephiroth's headed towards the village," Freya observed.

"Won't they be disappointed," Zack replied. With the threat of an altercation gone, they continued hurriedly towards the canyon, where Nanaki assured them there was a cave he knew of in which they could shelter until the storm was past.

Cissnei yawned as she spotted the deserted clearing off in the distance. It had been a long and grueling day of flight with only a short stop at a private airfield near the main town of Mideel to refuel. It was a relief to be back home and she was looking forward to a hot shower once she delivered the books, samples, and papers to the small desk Rayleigh had set up in her room, which also doubled as her home office. Since it was actually a few hours later in this time zone than it was back in Nibelheim, it was already starting to get dark, and chances were the doctor had already returned from work.

She brought the helicopter into a hover over the clearing and slowly brought it in to land. Soon the landing gear touched down into the grass and as the rotors slowed to a halt, she pulled off her headset and stood, stretching the kinks out of her muscles from sitting still for an extended period of time. Finished with this exercise, she climbed into the passenger compartment and began to gather a small stack of the documents they'd taken from the mansion. She had a full load and was about to reach for the mechanism that would open the main hatch when she heard a thumping noise. She froze, listening hard. The helicopter was silent.

Turk training kicked in at that moment. That had definitely been a thump. It certainly wasn't the vehicle creaking as it settled into the ground and while it didn't sound loud or heavy enough to be someone human sized, she'd worked with robots and animals small enough to make that noise.

She put down what she was carrying and crept to the back of the helicopter, quietly as a predator stalking prey. She looked around carefully, pulling open one of the compartments, and finding it empty.

She turned and checked the opposite compartment and found that one empty too. She was about to go to one of the smaller ones near the tail, but that was when she heard an even softer sound behind her; the sound of something small and furry as it brushed against a stack of loose papers. With reflexes honed to perfection during her Turk days, she pulled out one of the smaller shuriken she carried with her, and whirled around, hurling it at the small figure which let out a tiny shriek, before falling to the floor and playing dead. The shuriken clattered to the ground, leaving a scratch on the wall of the helicopter and Cissnei held her larger rekka in the air, ready to strike if whatever it was moved.

When she reached the spot where the small animal lay, she found she recognized it. With a cold expression on her face that could leave even the toughest of suspects worried for their safety, she picked up the small caped cat by the scruff of his neck.

"I know you're there Reeve. Or did you leave your little toy all alone to deal with me?"

The cat hung limp in her hands.

"Playing dead won't save you Cait Sith. Either you start talking, or I'll take my most powerful materia and destroy you right here!" For emphasis, she raised her hand, aiming a spell at the robots visual sensors.

She was almost to the point where she would have to fire when the little cat finally twitched, throwing up his gloved hands to ward off the spell. "All right, all right! I surrender! Don't blow me up lass!"

The renegade lowered her hand, though she did not lower the cat to the ground. "There, that wasn't so bad was it? Now how long have you been spying on us?"

The robot curled in on itself, looking very much like a cat being disciplined for leaving a mouse on the living room rug. "N-not long. Just since Rocket Town. Tho' I have ta sey, what's been happenin' with those two SOLDIERs o' yours sounds rather bad. Is it true what you all said about what Hojo did to'em?"

Cissnei's face hardened into a death glare. "Every word of it kitty. Who put your creator up to this? Was it Rufus? Or maybe Tseng? He's used you before. Couldn't be Scarlet, I don't think Reeve would have anything to do with that woman."

"You're darn tootin'. She's a walkin' disaster, she is." Cait Sith flicked his tail, trying too hard to sound friendly as he agreed with the renegade.

The two shared a chuckle at their mutual agreement, before Cissnei's expression became serious again. "All right, cut the crap, where's Reeve?"

"To tell the truth my dear, I was worried you'd find me a lot sooner than this." The cat had become oddly still as a speaker began to broadcast a voice that was much deeper than Cait Sith's lighter highland lilt.

"I take it Tseng sent you to keep an eye on us, and then when you heard that I was going back to our base, where you knew we had a lot of our less defensible personnel, you decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, didn't you. It's standard Turk protocol. Identify the weakest link and use it to lead your target around by the nose."

"Except I'm no Turk. You know that very well. What was done to those men can't be excused. But can you ignore that they are working with terrorists"

"Terrorists of Shinra's own making," Cissnei replied.

"That may be true, and maybe it isn't. My main interest in following you here is the nature of those documents and samples."

"That's a good story," Cissnei applauded the man sarcastically. "But knowing you, you're also planning to use this little guy to triangulate our location by pinging Shinra's PHS towers. Sorry Reeve, that's not happening."

"And why, praytell?"

"Check your signals."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Only one PHS tower on the grid within range? In all of the Mideel region?!"

"That's right. Just enough to get service. With just the one tower getting a signal, we could be virtually anywhere on this island. It would take months to find us, and it'd be obvious you were looking. We could be gone before you even knew you had the right place."

"You really planned this out, didn't you?"

"We're Turks. We're the best at what we do. And as for your little toy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to secure it here. I've got some work to do, and I don't have time to make sure his tracking functions have been properly dealt with right at the moment." Cissnei walked to the front of the passenger compartment, searching for the toolkit.

"But wait! Yes, I was sent to spy on you, but after what I heard, I can't turn my back on this either. I'm a lot more concerned about those strange people in the village than I am about your group, not to mention this Sephiroth problem. If you won't let Cait stay here, at least let him travel with the others for a while. It could be a public safety issue! I've read Zack's profile. He wouldn't want innocents harmed in this, and I have resources that could be of use to you! And Freya knows I would never compromise Veld. We go too far back for that."

Cissnei reached for a roll of duct tape and a pair of scissors. "If you do want to help, take it up with Zack when we get back to the western continent. I'm too busy right now to deal with you." Finding the sturdiest support pole in the helicopter, she proceeded to use the duct tape to bind the little robot to it, as tightly as possible.

"Unhand me ye vixen! I'll give ye what for if yeh don't let me go!" the robot complained, shifting back into his regular accented voice.

"Sorry Cait, but until further notice, you aren't going anywhere."

Satisfied with her handiwork, the renegade picked up the stack of books that lay at the door to the helicopter and pulled open the main hatch. To her surprise, she saw that the doctor and Jessie were standing in the dying light of evening, along with Marlene. The doctor looked behind her at the struggling stuffed toy with raised eyebrows. "Is everything okay in there?"

Cissnei's smile was very artificial. "Oh yeah, it's fine. We just have us a little stowaway. Don't worry about him. Help me with these will you? I have a long day tomorrow and I still need to figure out my flight plan."

Lightning struck a nearby tree on a rise as the party followed Nanaki into the cave. All of them were soaking wet and glad to get out of the rain. Tifa squeezed some rain water out of her hair. She was glad they'd managed to escape the downpour before her white shirt became any more transparent. On seeing the effect the water had on said article of clothing, Aerith had been kind enough to lend her the jacket she wore, but even so, the guys in the group were having trouble not looking in her direction for a while.

"Geez, you weren't kidding about the storm," Zack said as everyone gathered around, wiping the rainwater from their faces

"The weather around here can get rather unpredictable during the winter months. There's a current of wind that moves air in from the ocean and it tends to fluctuate a lot during this time of year," Nanaki explained.

"You some kinda weatherman or somethin'?" Barret asked.

Nanaki chuffed a laugh as he walked off a bit into the cave so he wouldn't spray the others. His flaming tail hissed when he shook the water out of his fur. "Just because I run on four legs doesn't mean I can't learn the knowledge of those who walk on two."

"I didn' mean anythin' by it, I was jes' wonderin'."

Nanaki lay down on the floor of the cave, resting his head on his paws. "There are many scholars in the Canyon; perhaps you too can learn some things from them."

Zack walked around the cave a little, following it a little deeper to a place where it widened out in an open space near the back before descending down a set of tunnels. "Since we've got a little time to kill; hey Cloud, Kunsel, how about we train a little bit?" While the others took seats at the mouth of the cave, the other two SOLDIERs joined him in the open area, and after a moment, he pulled out a couple of battery-operated lanterns to provide illumination. Once they were situated, the three of them walked to the center of the cave to discuss what drills they'd run before Cloud and Kunsel started off with one of the basic ones while Zack spotted for them.

Thunder roared outside the mouth of the cavern as the two warriors parried back and forth and Zack counted out the strokes for them. They went a few rounds, and then Zack took over from Cloud for a little, and then after a little more time, Cloud took over from Kunsel for a bit before they moved to a different set of drills.

One by one, the three men took off their shirts, having been working hard enough to need to cool off in spite of the time of year. Tifa began to take notice of the various scars on Cloud's back. The other men had their share of battle scars too, but unlike many of the others which had either been rendered small by the physical healing properties mako possessed, one scar in particular stood out prominently in the light from the lanterns, reflected under the sweat that poured down his back as he practiced his sword techniques. It had clearly been a deep wound. A puncture, and when he turned at one point, she realized it had to be the scar from where Sephiroth had impaled him. She shivered.

Zack called a halt to the drills and Cloud walked to the side of the cavern to pick up the second sword before returning. As she watched, Zack took hold of the two lighter swords Cloud was using and swung them slowly a couple of times while Cloud and Kunsel watched. It seemed he was talking about the difference in handling between a regular sword and a katana, while also discussing possible ways to use them in tandem. He demonstrated a block, and then a strike before taking up the Buster Sword again to prepare for the new drill, this time with Cloud holding the katana in his off hand.

"He's been training really hard, hasn't he," she commented to Aerith.

"Hmm?" Aerith looked up at her, having apparently been watching Zack.

"Cloud," she clarified.

Aerith nodded as the two of them watched Zack and Cloud go back and forth, Cloud carefully practicing the new techniques while Zack parried and defended before moving back in an offensive strike so his friend and protégé could practice the block too. "If Zack didn't make him come back in, he'd sometimes keep going for hours, when they weren't working a job."

"Why?" Tifa asked.

Aerith shrugged as the two SOLDIERs finished the drill, and then Zack and Kunsel walked back to grab their canteens, though Cloud remained in the center of the cave, working the drill as though his partner was still there. "I think it's because for him, good enough is never good enough."

"Why not? No one can expec' to be perfect," Barret said.

"I don't know if perfection is what he wants," Aerith replied.

"Then what is it?" Tifa asked.

As they watched, Zack walked back over to the center of the cave and said something to the blonde swordsman that sounded vaguely like "Come on, let's take a break. We'll probably be moving on as soon as the rain quits."

Aerith smiled sadly. "I'm not even sure he knows." After that, the conversation died and the three SOLDIERs rejoined the rest of the group, talking about the drills they'd run and discussing the differences between fighting two handed as opposed to with a single sword. But it didn't last long as the downpour began to let up. With a last rumble of thunder, the storm moved on, and as soon as the rain stopped falling, everyone continued on their way towards Cosmo Canyon.

Mao was observing the main gate leading into Nibelheim when Rufus's car pulled through it, and two very familiar former coworkers stepped out of it, followed by, ironically, Elena. The newly anointed president of Shinra Inc. was the last to exit the vehicle while Palmer remained in the driver's seat. He took in the small village with interest, though even Mao could detect the look of concern bordering on disdain as he observed a cloaked figure hobbling along between two of the buildings along the main road. It was a convenient attribute of the swordsman's hiding place, perched in one of the larger trees near the main street, that he was close enough to hear what was being said, yet removed enough one would have to be better at seeking than he was at hiding. Tseng had been the only one ever capable of locating him, out of those who were still in Shinra's employ, and he didn't seem to have traveled with Rufus's entourage.

"You there!" Rufus called to the figure in black. "What can you tell me about this village?"

"Not coming… Going east… must get it for him… become one with… Sephiroth…" The hooded figure ignored him, continuing to ramble both in word and stride towards what Mao now knew to be the former residence of Tifa Lockhart.

"Hey, I'd answer the President if I were you," Reno threatened. "Otherwise, we'll have ta make ya. And what do you know about Sephiroth?!"

"Must get it for him… "

At that point, Rude grabbed the figure by the front of his cloak. "Answer," He said coldy.

"Become one… Reunion…"

Rufus observed the spectacle before finally saying "It's no use, he's obviously out of his head." He looked up at the mansion. "According to the files, that's the only original building left. Reno, Rude, you check out the mansion. Elena, come with me, I'm going to speak to the innkeeper." Elena nodded and followed after him as the senior Turks headed towards the mansion, and the renegade pondered what he'd just heard. The active Turks would soon discover their handiwork in the mansion. He would keep watching, but it would probably be best to lie low for now.

Tseng was in his office in Junon when he received a mail from the computer technicians he'd assigned to decrypt the files on Hojo's computer. While they hadn't completely managed to decrypt all of the data, they had managed to make some headway on the files related to the Jenova project's pool of test subjects. The fact that he already had personnel files on Zack and Cloud had helped them immensely in working on the others. Now, on his personal computer, the information formed a parade of chilling details. The identity of each subject, the procedures performed on them, the amount of time they'd been incarcerated by Shinra, where, how, Hojo's designations for them. The records of their maintenance. How many of them there were…

The worst part of all was the fact that once Elena had been charged with taking a tally of the people in black cloaks in Nibelheim, each of them had corresponded to a file that now lay in front of him. Some of the specimens had been women and children.

Including Zack and Cloud, there were twenty-two in all, with thirteen confirmed still alive. There were four confirmed deceased. They'd died on the operating table. As Tseng looked over the details he found himself swearing (a rarity for him) as he realized that the logs for each specimen were all very similar to what Doctor Rayleigh had reported, with a few procedural differences. The SOLDIER and the infantryman must have been among the first, even if Hojo had labeled them failures. Rayleigh had not been able to be quite this specific about their mako injection records, or their exposure to the bonding chemicals used in the SOLDIER procedure, but she'd been able to make educated guesses, and now he could see, they were relatively accurate.

He had the details on what had been done, but not the motive. Even this was not sufficient evidence that Hojo had acted against the goals of the company. There were scientists still on the payroll who'd gotten away with worse. Before he could act, he needed all the evidence, and as he looked over the documents, he realized the answers had to lie in the final pair of files left to be decrypted. The Jenova Project file itself, and a short paper simply titled "The Reunion Theory."

"Reunion," he mouthed aloud, echoing the word mentioned in Elena's report on the figures in black. What could it mean? His thoughts were interrupted by a call on his PHS and he winced when he realized it was Scarlet. Apparently she wanted him to accompany her on her search for Huge Materia. Why she would, considering that she'd been perfectly happy to kill him before, was beyond him, but it was part of his job.

The sun was beginning to set over the canyon walls when Nanaki led everyone towards a towering flight of steps. They climbed for several minutes when Yuffie started complaining.

"I swear, it's like climbing to some of the more remote shrines back home."

"You know, I think I once saw a mountain shrine there with over seven hundred steps up to the top," Zack said as they neared what appeared to be the gate. "Compared to that, this is nothing."

"Seven hundred steps…" Barret breathed. "At that point, I might wanna jes' turn around."

"Well, I wasn't exactly there as a tourist," Zack hedged as he walked leisurely up the stairs. He had merely wanted to bring up the comparison to get Yuffie to quit grousing. He didn't want her to start hurling insults about SOLDIERs again.

It didn't work. "You were there to kill our ninjas!"

Zack sighed, reminding himself she had every right to be angry about it, and resigned himself to defusing the situation for the umpteenth time. "It's not like I wanted to kill anybody if I could help it."

"Then why did you?" Yuffie pressed. "You could have turned around and gone back home."

"Because we had orders. But even then, I spared lives where I could. I let you live after all."

"No, I let you go after I defeated you!" Zack rolled his eyes, and was relieved to see that they were coming up to the top of the stairs, and he could now see they were climbing to a small settlement on a plateau that overlooked the canyon. The plateau also housed a second rising cliff at its middle, honeycombed with dwellings and scaffolds. At the top of the highest rise, he could see what looked like an observatory attached to a little house. As the sunset gave way to twilight and the stars were beginning to twinkle into existence up in the sky, he could see the moon off in the distance. It was getting near full now, casting a gentle glow on the small village even as the light from the sun was fading in a rainbow of steadily darker hues. He didn't have much patience for science, (not to mention much tolerance left for scientists) but he found himself appreciating that whoever lived up at the top of the mesa probably had an incredible view through that telescope tonight.

Freya had gravitated to the rear of the group, he noticed, but Nanaki hurried to the guard standing at the gate. The man looked up in surprise as the red lion reached him, giving off his equivalent of a smile. "I'm home! It is I! Nanaki!"

The man returned it with a relieved smile of his own. "Nanaki? It is you! You're safe! Come on in, go say hello to Bugenhagen!" With a light growl that might have been his equivalent of an acknowledging grunt, the red lion rushed past the man and into the settlement, his gait showing a familiarity with his surroundings that could only indicate he had lived here for a very long time.

Zack was the second to reach the guard and as he approached, the man held up a hand to stop him. "Do you know of this place?"

"Only what my friends have told me about it," he replied.

"People from all over the world gather here to seek the Study of Planet Life. Umm… It's at full capacity at present, so I'm afraid I can't let you enter."

It was at that point when Nanaki reappeared at the foot of a second set of stairs that seemed to be leading up into the next tier of cliffs. "I have been traveling with them for some time, please let them in."

"Oh?" The man looked the party over. "Is that so? Well if you helped out our Nanaki, please, come in."

As everyone continued through the gate to rejoin the red lion, he spoke again. "This is where I was… I mean, this is my hometown. My tribe were protectors of those who appreciate this beautiful Canyon. My brave mother fought and died here, but my cowardly father left her… I may as well be the last of my race."

"That's not entirely true, what about Deneh?" Freya asked, her voice unusually soft.

"She won't return from the altar for several more years at least. It's a stipulation of the rite we performed," Nanaki replied.

"Oh."

"What about your dad?" Yuffie asked.

Nanaki growled. "My father was a wastrel. The mission I inherited from my ancestors, is to protect this place. My journey ends here."

At that point, everyone's attention was drawn by the voice of an older man. "Nanaki? You're home!"

Nanaki's head raised as he took in the sight of the older man who had called for him, looking down at them from the upper mesa. "Coming Grandpa!" With a final swish of his flaming tail, he ran up the stairs again and out of sight.

"Well, as for me," Yuffie spoke up. "I'm going to find somewhere to relax. Call me when you know where we're sleeping, okay?"

As though sensing she was headed toward the shop, Tifa gestured that Barret come with her to follow the ninja and Vincent wandered off to find somewhere quiet to do whatever it was not-vampires did when they weren't sleeping in coffins.

This left Zack, Cloud, Aerith, Kunsel, and Freya to follow Nanaki up the stairs. The steps wound their way around the cliffside before coming to an entrance into a cavern, and from there, it was a short climb up a couple of ladders before they reached the mesa on which the home of Nanaki's grandfather resided. Upon walking inside, they found their four-legged companion sitting near an old man, who floated on what seemed to be a strange hovercraft. "This is my Grandfather Bugen," the red lion said, "He's incredible. He knows everything."

Bugenhagen nodded at the introduction, laughing as he did so. "Ho Ho Hoo." He surveyed the new arrivals and his eyes landed on Freya. "I remember you. You were here with that other red-headed Turk. I didn't know what you were here for then, but you look like you've seen a few things since."

"I have. And I've had a lot of things to think about since I saw you last," Freya answered.

"With what I'm hearing of the cries of the Planet, it doesn't surprise me." The older man smiled. "Don't look so concerned. I'm not a vengeful man. What you did was very serious, but if Nanaki is still willing to travel with you, then I have no intention of holding a grudge. In fact, I thank you all for looking after him. He's still young you see."

Nanaki chuffed a laugh. "Please stop Grandfather, I'm forty-eight."

"Forty-eight is young?" Zack asked.

Bugenhagen's mustache crinkled as a smile formed under his beard. "Nanaki's tribe has incredible longevity. So you see, his forty-eight years would be equivalent to that of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old by our reckoning."

"I never would have guessed," Aerith said.

Those assembled look at the red lion in surprise as he continued. "He's quiet and very deep. You thought he was an adult?"

Nanaki's tail twitched in slight annoyance. "…Grandfather, I want to be an adult. I want to grow up to be able to protect you and the village."

The old man shook his head as he laughed again. "No Nanaki, you can't stand on your own just yet. To do that now would destroy you in the long run." He raised a hand as he continued. "Reaching up into the heavens, threatening to snatch the very stars from the great city of Midgar. You've seen it, haven't you?" He paused, his brow furrowed as he thought about his own words, and Zack half wondered if the man was a little senile.

Finally the man gave up on what he was trying to say and simply ended with "Well, that's a bad example. Looking up too much makes you lose perspective."

"I don't know about that," Zack said. "I find it to be kind of liberating, myself. There's a big beautiful sky up there, with so many possibilities." He couldn't miss the way the others were watching him. After going down into the Shinra Mansion's basement, they knew exactly why he'd hold that opinion.

The old man regarded him, floating a little closer. "When it's time for this planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing."

"When the planet… dies?" Cloud asked.

"Ho ho hooo. It may be tomorrow, or a hundred years from now… But it's not long off."

"And how would you know that?" The skepticism was clear in Kunsel's expression.

"I hear the cries of the planet," Bugenhagen answered, gesturing upward. As he finished, they all suddenly noticed a collection of very odd sounds coming from some nearby machinery.

"What's that?" Zack asked.

"The sounds of the stars in the heavens. While this goes on, planets are born, and die."

While the older man explained, Zack looked down at Aerith who had suddenly put an arm around him as a particularly loud noise emanated from the machine. He returned the gesture, protectively encircling her as he considered the old man's statement. "What was that sound?"

"That was a scream from this planet. Didn't you hear it? It was as if it was saying 'I hurt.' 'I suffer.'"

"From what?" Freya walked over to the machine curiously, but not without some suspicion.

"I guess no one has ever told you exactly what Mako is, have they?" the older man asked.

Freya thought about the question. "I was always under the impression it was simply refined fuel drawn from the planet and returned once it cycled through the reactors. At least, that's how Shinra described it."

Bugenhagen shook his head. "Perhaps I should show you all something. Though I'll only be able to show it to you three at a time, since the room we're going to is very cramped." He floated over to a door and held it open.

"You and Aerith can go first," Cloud said after a moment. "We'll wait out here."

"You sure?" Zack asked.

The younger swordsman nodded.

"All right. We'll be back." Zack, Aerith, and Freya followed the older man through the door and they found themselves in what appeared to be a large room with a small platform in the center.

Bugenhagen was floating near a set of levers on the platform and he directed them to stand on it. "Ho ho hoo, now that everyone's here, let's begin." He flipped one of the levers and the lights in the room temporarily went out before another set of lights illuminated the room in a dim glow.

Aerith looked up and her eyes widened. "Ooh!"

Zack followed her gaze until he was looking up at the ceiling, and saw that up above them hovered a small planetarium, with the solar system hanging suspended as a 3-D model over their heads. He felt the platform lifting underneath them and soon, they stood just below the rotating planets and stars as the old man floated slightly above them, level with the model as the others looked around.

"Wow," Zack looked around at the tiny models. "This is incredible."

Bugenhagen smiled under his beard. "Hmm, yes, it's pretty good. This is my laboratory. All of the workings of space are entered into this 3-D hologram."

"There's even shooting stars in here!" Aerith pointed one out as it flew through the orbits of the various planets before being swallowed by a black hole some distance away. Aerith's emerald eyes were alight with wonder. "This is amazing!"

The old man laughed. "Ho ho hoo. It is something, isn't it? But let's get to the point." He settled himself on his hovercraft and continued. "Eventually… all humans die. What happens to them after they die?"

He paused to let the question sink in before pressing on. "The body decomposes, and returns to the Planet. That much everyone knows. What about their consciousness, their hearts and their souls? The soul too returns to the planet. And not only those of humans, but everything on the Planet. In fact, all living things in the universe, are the same." He lifted his hands, demonstrating the all-encompassing magnitude of his topic. "The spirits that return to the Planet merge with one another, roaming, converging, and dividing, becoming a swell, called the 'Lifestream.' In other words, a path of spirit energy that encircles the Planet. 'Spirit Energy' is a phrase that you should never forget. A new life… Children are blessed with Spirit energy and are brought into the world. Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the Planet… Of course there are exceptions, but this is the way of the world."

He chuckled as he realized he was beginning to ramble. "I've digressed, but you'll understand better if you watch this." He pointed out a small blue orb that rotated in an orbit third out from the sun, and as they watched, representations of various humans, plants, and animals appeared before dissolving into a flow of sparks that began to encircle the planet, sometimes breaking off into new life, before dispersing again, but remaining constant in its flow.

Bugenhagen continued. "Spirit energy makes all things possible, trees, birds, and humans. And not just living things. It makes it possible for Planets to be Planets. So what would happen if that Spirit Energy were to disappear?" He reached out and Aerith gasped as the image suddenly reacted to his touch, causing the simulated Lifestream to gather away from the Planet and into his hand. Almost immediately, the Planet's surface blackened and then dissolved into the nothingness of space and Bugenhagen backed away, allowing the Planet to be restored in the simulation. "…These are the basics of the Study of Planet Life."

"So you're saying that if the Energy is lost, then the Planet's destroyed," Freya asked.

The old man nodded. "Spirit energy is efficient, BECAUSE it exists within nature. When Spirit energy is forcefully extracted and processed, it can't accomplish its true purpose."

"I guess you're talking about Mako, aren't you," Zack said.

Bugenhagen nodded. "Spirit energy gets compressed in the reactors and processed into Mako energy. All living things are being used up and thrown away. Mako energy will only destroy the Planet… Energy cannot be destroyed, but refined Mako speeds the process of falling to Spirit Energy's least active state. Did it ever occur to you why so many larger materia tend to form in reactors? It's because, if allowed to stagnate, the Mako crystalizes turning it into a form that can't be reabsorbed into the Lifestream without a cataclysmic unlocking of the energy. Materia can be used to cast spells because within them they are feeding off the active Spirit Energy within our own bodies. Using them as a conduit. Though their own store of energy remains largely in a state of permanent rest."

Zack pulled out the Odin materia he had in his pocket. "So when I hold this materia in my hand, I can tell what it is because I'm feeling it tap into me?"

"Precisely. Everything that has Spirit Energy within it maintains that connection to the Lifestream, never forget that. You, me, and everything on this Planet."

"So that means… Shiva…" He saw that Freya was looking up at the small blue Planet, a look of shock on her face as she voiced her thought aloud. "We've been powering our cities and homes with souls…"

Bugenhagen nodded. "Now, you are beginning to understand."

Don't mind me, just lining up dominoes... ^^

As indicated by what Tseng's up to, the party should have arrived in Gongaga today. Of course, they aren't there, and it looks like Rufus has decided to join the hunt a little earlier than expected. Go figure.

See ya next time!