Lyra had Kadaj's number memorized. Shalua and Reeve were taking far too long, giving her tips for safety and adding numbers and names in the cell phone. Lyra fidgeted, shuffling her feet.

"You have everyone's number in here, okay?" Shalua repeated for the third time. Lyra nodded and smiled and Reeve finally handed the phone over to her.

"Thank you," Lyra said. She went through the contacts, showing Shalua and Reeve that she knew how to use it so they could let her add Kadaj's number.

After Kadaj had left, Tifa gently scolded Lyra.

"He really isn't someone you want to be around," she said. "He's hurt people."

Lyra apologized, moving her hand behind her back to hide the scrap of paper with his number. Cid and Barret added to Tifa's claims. Apparently, Kadaj had once used a Bahamut summon and it had destroyed a memorial statue. Miraculously, no one had died but many people had been injured.

Lyra left Reeve's office to find a restroom. She was paranoid that someone would see her, and she didn't want Cloud or Tifa to give her another lecture about how someone she knew was her friend was such a bad person and blah, blah, blah.

She happily texted Kadaj, saying Guess who.

A minute or two passed as she made her way to the elevator. Her new phone chimed, and she checked the message.

Let me guess. Short, likes flowers, and my best friend?

Lyra smiled as she pressed the call button to go down. She sent a message back.

Yup! I got an emergency phone.

Another chime came from her phone just as she pressed send, this time from Yuffie.

I HEARD YOU GOT A PHONE HOW YOU DOING BUDDY

Lyra laughed to herself and boarded the elevator. She continued to talk to Kadaj and Yuffie until she got to her floor. Yuffie had stopped talking in all caps after a few messages, and Kadaj was just making small talk. He would try to throw random references from past conversations in. Lyra knew he was trying to see if she could remember much of anything, but she knew she wouldn't.

Lyra was just outside of Shalua's lab, about to open the door when she heard her voice down the hall. The WRO was silent, everyone had gone home for the evening, and most of the building was empty. The only people there were security and nurses in the hospital ward.

She didn't think twice about making her way down the hall. The lights were off. The hall was dark and silent. A door was cracked open letting a sliver of light escape. Shalua's voice was coming from the room. Lyra stopped before the door and froze. She heard her name mentioned and she put her phone on silent so she could listen.

"First Rosso, then this Vigo thing," Tifa was saying. "What's next?"

Someone grunted and Lyra heard someone shuffling through paper.

"Who knows," Shalua answered. "Shelke spent the day trying to break through all the security in Lyra's files instead of going to the farmer's market. She couldn't do much, but she found something disturbing."

Lyra frowned. What was she talking about? She had files? Actually, of course they would have files, they needed a way to document her arrival and all the craziness that followed. But the way Shalua had talked about these files, it sounded as if she didn't make them. There were security measures taken that insured that even Shelke with all of her hacking genius couldn't get through to read them. Lyra shook her head and stayed silent. She wanted to know what disturbing thing Shelke had found.

She didn't hear Shalua say anything, but she heard paper being shuffled around. Lyra cautiously peeked through the crack. She glimpsed a paper being handed between Cloud and Tifa as well as Barret and Cid. Reeve moved in front of the crack and Lyra jumped back. His back was to her, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"How many labs was this guy in charge of?" Barret asked. His voice was shaking with anger as he said this.

"Not sure, but Shelke found that many of them were in the Woodlands Area," Shalua answered. "Did you guys know that the Woodlands Area used to have the highest percentage of Cetra twenty-five years ago?"

No one said anything. The room was silent.

"Really?"

"Until Shinra became obsessed with the Promised Land?"

"Yeah. The villages there had a small Cetra population. Shinra had labs down there and Jael was in charge," Shalua continued. "He was stationed down there around the time Lyra was born according to the document."

Lyra jumped back from the door and stifled a yelp as her phone vibrated. She glanced down at it to see that Yuffie and Kadaj were still talking to her. The door opened wider and Reeve smiled at her, though the look in his eyes was uneasy.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked. Lyra shrugged and tried to act as if she hadn't overheard them. She had the eerie feeling that she wasn't supposed to hear any of that.

"Nothing. I just got here. I'm just talking to Yuffie."

Lyra expected them to not believe her. The bathrooms on the current floor were closed for maintenance so she had to go down to the floor below them. It wouldn't have realistically taken her long to add Kadaj's number and go back and join everyone. But in that time, Cloud and Tifa were talking behind her back with Shalua and Reeve and those new guys.

Cloud and Tifa took her back to the 7th Heaven as if nothing had happened, apologizing for leaving her at the farmer's market. They had bought supplies and food for the bar and took them back, but they thought Lyra was right behind them. They didn't mean to leave her behind. Lyra wasn't mad at them for doing this, she was able to see Kadaj and spend a nice half hour or so with him.

No, she was mad that they were hiding something from her and they still expected her to trust them.

Kadaj woke up to his phone ringing. He grumbled and fumbled around for it, falling off the futon only to find that it was lying underneath him. He cleared his throat and answered it.

"Hello?" He cringed. He sounded groggy and grumpy. There was a pause and then a timid voice answered.

"Kadaj? It's me."

Kadaj smiled. "Lyra-"

"K, I think something bad is happening."

Kadaj scrambled to his feet, ready to run out the door. He pulled on his boots and grabbed his sword.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

He paused with his hand on the door. He searched through the bond for any signs of panic or fear. Lyra was tired, and something was troubling her. She wasn't in any danger. He relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," she said, jerking him back. "I know it's late-"

"No, it's okay." Kadaj threw his sword on the floor next to the futon and flopped down. "What's wrong?"

Lyra was silent. He could hear her moving around, messing with a door. It closed and she brought the phone back to her ears.

"I think Cloud and Tifa are hiding something. Something about me."

"What makes you say that?" Kadaj asked. Lyra took a breath.

"I eavesdropped on them talking with Reeve and Shalua, and those other two guys and they were talking about me."

Kadaj frowned. "What were they saying?"

"They just…" Lyra sighed. "They have documents and stuff about me and it's blocked by security and something about Cetra." Lyra paused again. "What are Cetra?"

Kadaj didn't say anything. He wanted to tell her everything that she didn't remember, at least as much that he knew, but it would be a lot to take in.

"They're supposedly extinct," he said. "Look, it's pretty late. Why don't we meet up somewhere and I'll tell you about them."

"Won't we meet up again with the dream thing and all?"

Kadaj chuckled. "Well, yeah, but it's a lot and the dreams were usually a place for us to just hang out."

Up until the end when shit hit the fan.

Everyone is leaving and I'm afraid you're going to leave next.

Kadaj winced remembering that moment. They were in the dreamland as usual, but she had been crying. Something horrible had happened and Lyra was terrified. Their safe place had turned into a place meant for them to make sure the other was alive and well. The bond wasn't enough at the time.

"Kadaj? K? Are you still there?" Lyra laughed a little as she said, "You didn't fall asleep on me did you?"

"No, but I'm about to." Kadaj yawned. "I'll talk to you later. We'll figure out a way to meet up in the dreamland."

"Alright. See you."

Lyra hung up and his apartment was silent again. He smiled.

"She called me K again."

The next morning, Barret came to the bar to get Marlene. They had a day planned to catch up and be a normal father and daughter. With all the crazy happening in the past few years, Barret hadn't been able to do much with her and this trip to the WRO gave him an opportunity to see his little girl again.

Lyra wasn't sure what to think of Barret. He was a huge guy and his gun could turn into a gun. But he seemed nice enough. He didn't seem to like her though. Barret gave her suspicious looks and didn't seem happy with Cloud and Tifa's choice to leave her unsupervised. She tried to tell him that she wasn't dangerous, but he didn't seem to believe her.

Cloud had a delivery to do and Tifa had to work the bar. She and Denzel spent the morning organizing and putting away the supplies they had gotten from the farmer's market. Lyra didn't have much to do and Tifa insisted that they were fine and didn't need her help. This was perfect for her.

Lyra gave Tifa a lame explanation about exploring the area around the bar so she wouldn't get lost again and called Tifa's phone to prove that she had her number and would be fine with going off alone.

Lyra could easily find the memorial statue and happily looked around for Kadaj. She was sure that she would be able to spot his silver hair in the crowd, but she also knew that the Bahamut he had summoned had been the reason for the construction of the statue. She wondered if he would be wearing a disguise.

She had been thinking all night about the conversation and just how much she didn't know.

Did she want to remember? Yes. But honestly, how much would Kadaj know and what good would it do? She still wouldn't remember anything. No, she wanted to remember things herself. She would have to tell Kadaj this. Instead of asking much about her past, she would ask about Cetra and that Vigo thing.

Lyra sat on a bench and watched the construction. She texted Yuffie, who was at the WRO with Vincent and the others. Yuffie said that they were working on research for energy sources and a bunch of other stuff. Lyra doubted this, thinking back to the conversation she overheard.

Lyra's palms felt hot and she closed her eyes. She took calming breaths to keep her anger and fire at bay. Fire would not be a good thing at the moment. And neither would ice. Much to Lyra's dismay, as soon as she started to kill the fire, the ice formed around her feet and she felt cold.

She panicked for a moment as the ice annoyingly tried to appear and smoke wafted through her fingers.

Lyra yelped as a hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped from her seat. Kadaj smirked as he backed away, his hands in the air. He was wearing a black hoodie. The hood covered his silver hair.

"Hey Ly, how's it going?"

Lyra wacked him in the side. "Don't scare me like that, you jerk!"

They sat back down and watched the construction for a moment. Kadaj bobbed his knee nervously and looked around.

"So," he started. "About your memories-"

"I've thought about it and came to the conclusion that even if you told me anything, I still won't be able to remember," Lyra interrupted.

Kadaj blinked at her and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Okay," he began slowly. "What would you like to talk about then?"

Lyra shrugged. "First off, the Vigo. And second, what are Cetra."

Kadaj took a breath and sat back. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose. "You know, you are really making this difficult."

Lyra frowned. "Making what difficult?"

"This whole situation."

Lyra scoffed. "It's not like I asked to forget my life. I don't think I wanted to forget you!"

Kadaj and Lyra sat in silence for a moment.

"Are you sure?" Kadaj asked. Lyra nodded.

"Yes."

Kadaj sighed and pulled something from his hoodie pocket. It was a round purple orb. Lyra could feel the energy coming from it, pulsing and playfully glowing in his hand. He didn't say anything, just passed it between his fingers.

"Well, the Cetra were the Planet's caretakers," Kadaj said finally. "They began to go extinct thousands of years ago because of the Calamity." Kadaj paused to swallow. Lyra could feel a wave of anxiety rise on his end of the bond. "And they fled to the Woodlands Area. They lived in villages peacefully until the Shinra Electric came around and they died out."

"What would that have to do with me?" Lyra asked. "Shalua was talking about my documents when she brought the Cetra up."

Kadaj met Lyra's eyes. "Well, you're a Cetra."

Lyra cocked her head, still unsure what this would mean. Kadaj rolled his eyes.

"You can hear the Planet and before you lost everything you were very powerful," Kadaj said. Lyra's eyes widened. "Hear the Planet, speak with the Planet, unlock it."

"How do you know this?"

"We grew up in the labs together." Kadaj smirked. "And the Flower Girl Aerith filled in the blanks while I was in the Lifestream."

Lyra hugged herself and sat back, trying to relieve her own anxiety over this new information. "I guess that explains the voices and seeing Aerith in the Church when she's supposed to be dead."

Kadaj laughed and Lyra scowled at him. "Yeah, that would explain it."

"So what about the Vigo?"

Kadaj's smile slipped away and his eyes filled with fear. "Not a good person. He's the doctor's personal bodyguard." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet and small. "Terrifying. Brutal. It can shapeshift into that monster. He kept me and my brothers in line, wouldn't speak, just… stared at us."

Lyra knit her eyebrows, unsure what to say. Kadaj suddenly thrust the purple orb into her hands.

"Take it," he said. "It's connected to another one I have."

Lyra took it and examined the orb further. "What is it?"

"Teleportation Materia."

Lyra rose an eyebrow and stared at Kadaj.

"It's so if something really bad happens, you can use it and teleport to safety," Kadaj explained. Lyra nodded, making a note to ask how to use it. In fact, she was just about to ask when Kadaj asked something that made her really think.

"So what are you going to do about Cloud and Tifa?"

Lyra dropped the hand holding the Materia. She shook her head.

"I don't know. I want to stay. They're nice and haven't actually done anything to make me feel unsafe." Lyra rolled the Materia in her hand. "But if they're hiding something about me from me, I have to know what it is."

"You might not like what you find." Kadaj took on a warning tone. Lyra shook her head.

"I want to remember. I don't care how bad my past is. I'm only nineteen, how bad can it be?" She smiled at him, poking his side playfully with her elbow, but he didn't smile back. Kadaj was dead serious and didn't say anything else to discourage her.

"I don't know Lyra," he whispered. "It's pretty bad."

Lyra's phone rang, making them both jump. Kadaj was so startled that he jumped from the bench, balling his hands into fists as if he was ready for a fight. His hood fell and the man and woman passing by looked disturbed. Lyra took a breath and looked at her phone.

"It's Tifa," she said. "I should go."

Kadaj nodded. He reached for the hand holding the Materia and squeezed it. "Stay safe, Star-Eyes."

Lyra watched Kadaj run to an alley before he dematerialized into mist. Lyra answered her phone. Tifa was wondering where she was. Yuffie had come back and the bar was really busy. Lyra went back to the bar and helped Tifa and Yuffie.

Lyra had the Materia in her sundress pocket, and she checked it many times to make sure it was still there. She went over everything Kadaj had said over and over and over again in her head as she brought drinks and dishes of food to the tables. She shyly smiled as she served the patrons and politely made small talk with a few that wanted to make small talk but no matter how busy she was kept, she couldn't shake her shock and anger.

She was a Cetra and had been in a lab with Kadaj. Kadaj had said that they grew up together. She couldn't imagine a kid growing up in a lab for whatever reasons the Shinra Company had. She understood that she only couldn't imagine this because she couldn't remember and she couldn't shake that eerie thought from her head.

And her supposed friends were keeping this information from her. Didn't they know how out of place and lost she felt? Lyra was sure that they would help her, that they were helping her remember and they weren't. They hid her and shuffled her around Shalua's lab and gave her dumb-bunny tasks to keep busy and quiet and she was no closer to knowing who she was than she was when she first woke up in that blasted—

Lyra jumped and screamed as the drinks in her hands exploded, showering the floor with glass and liquid. The liquid steamed and bubbled and the pieces of glass still in her hand were very warm to the touch. Her fingers were wreathed in wisps of smoke and the bar was silent.

Yuffie jumped into action, reassuring everyone that she 'got it' and swept up the glass. Tifa took Lyra into the back and gave her a wet cloth to clean her hands. Lyra hadn't felt the cuts until the warm cloth touched her hand. They weren't deep, but her right palm was dripping blood all over the kitchen island. Tifa looked over her hands and Lyra watched as the cuts began to close almost immediately after they were disinfected. Somehow this didn't surprise her or freak her out.

"Oh, they aren't too bad," Tifa assured her, taking in the shock on Lyra's face and misinterpreting it. "You know how a shaving nick seems to bleed way too much? That's what's going on. You'll be fine."

Tifa's smile didn't make Lyra feel better. She just kept hearing what Shalua had said in the office at the WRO. Lyra forced herself to smile back, trying not to snap at Tifa and demand the truth. She felt so betrayed and hurt.

Tifa left Lyra with the rag and washed her hands before going back to the front. Lyra stayed where she was and began to silently plan. She needed to get the truth from the WRO herself.

Author's Note: WOW. I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed! The plot is beginning to pick up, and I'm trynig to write as fast as I can with my busy schedule. I'll try to crank out another chapter or two this week. Again, thank you so much for reading! I love that so many people have read and followed already! And I love reading the reviews! I love hearing theories about what's going to happen next as well!

Please, feel free to leave a review and follow! Thank you so much!