"Damn…what did they do to him?"

"Shot him…damn near killed him to. He should be fine though…mainly blood loss."

"…I think the president wants us to be on our toes. Thing's are going to get pretty hectic really soon."

"Yeah, I know. Let's go find Tseng."

Reno heard all of this, though he wasn't sure if he was awake.

Oh god I feel like a train ran me over… Struggling for a moment, the man tried to open his eyes. Once he was successful, he wished immediately he hadn't been.

White light poured into his eyes, blinding his very rapidly. Practically as soon as he had opened them, he snapped them back shut.

Jeez…where am I? Ignoring the pain that was shooting through his head, he tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't lift anything either than his head and neck.

"What the…?" he finally managed to say. Then, wincing as he did so, he slowly opened his eyes to see what tying him down.

"God damnit!" Restraints, six of them. One across his chest and shoulders, one at each wrist, one across both of his thighs, and one at each ankle.

"Ah, I see our little patient is awake," a voice came from the door to the right. Whipping his to the side, the redheaded man saw a woman wearing a lab coat. "Feeling any better?"

Ignoring her question, Reno responded with one of his own. "Where am I?"

"Wutai's military compound's infirmary. I'm Dr. Kojek."

"…why am I in Wutai?"

"You were captured by Junonian/Shinra soldiers at Junon. President Shinra wanted you transported here during the…peace talks."

Suddenly, something dawned on Reno. "Wait a minute, did you say Dr. Kojek?" She nodded. "I thought you were a doctor for Shinra?"

The woman began heading for the door, turning back to answer his question just before she exited the room. "I am."

***

Rufus Shinra eyed Lord Godo, who sat across from him at the elegant table of the grand conference room. Wutains had always liked things over-exaggerated. It showed in their architecture and art.

"Shall I start off this meeting or would you like to?" The elder man started, eyeing Rufus questioningly.

"You may."

Godo nodded. "Very well." Taking in a deep breath, he began. "I feel this war is unnecessary." Rufus nodded in agreement to this. "We're wasting valuable economic resources. Whole cities are being flushed out and ruined everyday. Families are being torn apart." Rufus couldn't help but notice the extra emphasis he added to this last phrase, but chose to ignore it.

"I agree completely-" The young president began.

"Thank you."

"Which is why this war must end. Today."

"Excellent! I was hop-"

"Uh, uh, uh," Rufus wagged his finger at the elder man. "You didn't let me finish. Yes, I want this war to end today. But only because I'm tired of these useless battles. I want control of Wutai, and I want it now."

Everyone in the room could see the rage building behind the Lord of Wutai's eyes. "And just how do you plan on accomplishing this?"

Shinra's eyes darkened as well as he replied, "Don't play stupid with me, old man."

Godo sighed, slumping in his chair. How could I have let myself fall for this…I've let done my country. "The Sister Ray." Rufus nodded, even though it hadn't been a question. "May I ask a question?" Without waiting for answer he went ahead. "If you're just planning to fire your new toy at us, why bother coming here at all?"

The President chuckled slightly. "I may be young, old man, but I'm not stupid. My little party here and I didn't come unescorted. We have plenty SOLDIER's already storming the grounds and even at this moment there are ships full of SOLDIER's and Junonian military on their way here, some have even docked and began the invasion. But I couldn't just let them wander out here. I had to make sure you and all of your advisors were tied up. And I needed the fighting to be at a halt, and I needed to make sure you wouldn't be expecting anything like this. What better way than a 'peace conference'?"

A dense silence smothered room. Any hope that the Wutain's had had for the future had been extinguished. Now their future was nothing but darkness.

***

Aeris stood on the deck of the ship they were taking to Costa Del Sol, gazing at the open ocean. She had never seen it in real life. Only in pictures. And now that she was finally seeing it…the feeling was indescribable. The Cetra had always dreamed about sailing on the ocean, and while this wasn't the most idealistic situation, she was happy that finally got to.

"Aeris? Are you out here?" The youngest member of the group, Yuffie, called out a few yards down the deck.

"Down here, Yuffie," the older woman called out.

"What're you doing?" The short ninja asked Aeris as she reached her.

"Nothing…just looking at the ocean."

"Oh…" Yuffie, too, turned her gaze out to the seemingly endless tumble of waves. "It's pretty."

"Yeah…"

"Aeris?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think," The young girl began, then seemed to change her mind. "What's going to happen?"

Aeris sighed. "I don't know. But we can't lose faith. My mother always told me that we mustn't ever lose faith in the future."

"Heh, good advice." The two were silent for a while before Aeris spoke once more.

"Hey, let's go inside. It's not doing us any good moping about out here." She and Yuffie turned back the way Yuffie had come out and began walking towards the door.

"And it'll do us good to mope about inside?"

Aeris laughed as the younger girl grinned. Quickly, they made their way to their cabin.

"Huh," Yuffie started once they entered the small room. "I wonder where Zoë is."

"She's always wandering off."

"Yeah, true. She's so…odd."

"I wonder why she's still here."

"What do you mean?"

"I figured she'd go back to her farm by now."

"Eh, she probably wants to see this thing through."

"Yeah, I guess."

***

"This is over our heads."

"No it isn't. Stop worrying."

Alli Shinra couldn't help but wonder what the two men a ways down the deck of the ship she was on were talking about. She listened thoughtfully, while at the same time trying to look like she was oblivious to their conversation completely. Why are they so familiar? She asked herself.

"How can you say stop worrying? You're beginning to sound like Reno…"

"…whatever."

"Come on, before long we'll reach Costa Del Sol. And then its off to Rocket Town!"

Alli looked down the deck at the two men curiously, hoping they wouldn't take notice of her.

"I still doubt that that Highwind guy will help us any."

"Then we'll resort to plan B."

The first man groaned.

"Hey," the second man spoke up again. "Quit worrying. Like Biggs said…" Alli didn't pay attention to much more of the conversation.

Biggs? They know Biggs? The girl squinted her eyes, studying the two men a little deeper. Of course! Now I know who they are! They were there that night…hmmm…I thought something fishy was going on there! They're in Avalanche…they must be!

***

"I know that, James!" Reeve sighed when the younger man finished. "But I can't help but worry. I just want things to-"

"REEVE! JAMES!" Wedge came careening from a door off to the left, waving as he hurried over to the pair.

"What is it?" Reeve asked.

"You have to come hear what they're announcing over the radio!" He nodded back towards the door he had come from and the three began heading towards it.

After a few moments, they arrived in one of the small cabins the group had reserved. Biggs was already in there, seated at a chair near the table where a small radio sat.

"What's goi-" James started, only to be interrupted by Biggs.

"Shhhhh!!!"

"We repeat, the city of Wutai has been invaded! Midgar and Junon are now claiming total reign over the area! More updates on the status of the invasion and the war coming!"

The four men looked at each other, their eyes all saying the same thing.

"Damn."

***

Tifa glanced up for a second as a small pack of Junonian soldiers herded some Wutain soldiers into a cell. They had been gathering them for almost two hours now, and the cells in the military compound where she was at were beginning to fill.

Poor Wutai…I can't believe this happened.

The block of the compound she was being held in was bustling with until now, when everything went still. All of the soldier's were standing at attention. All the noise that had until this point been persistent came to a stop, except for the soft shuffle of boots hitting the concrete floor.

It didn't take long to figure out what was going on. After a short while a very familiar figure stood in front of her cell. Very familiar indeed.

"Ah, Miss Lockheart. So good to see you again."

Her lips curled back into a sneer.

"Briggs."

She knew the General quite well. He had been there during many of the attacks Avalanche launched on Shinra and Junon.

"Tsk, tsk Miss Lockheart. You shouldn't take such a tone with me you know."

"And why not? What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

Briggs leaned closer to the bars. "You never know."

"…"

The general leaned back out, then turned to the two soldiers on his right. "Get her out of there. Strife wants her in the interrogation room as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." They spoke in one voice, and saluted as one being.

He gave her one last look, then began to walk away, calling out "At ease, soldiers," as he left.

The moment the words left his mouth everyone was once more bustling about, trying to get their task completed, and the two, now also familiar soldiers, opened Tifa's cell door.

"C'mon, you heard the General," Hatcher said, holding the door open.

The young woman sighed, picking herself off of the cold floor. "I'm coming."

***

Aeris sat on the small bed, attempting to comfort the sobbing Yuffie.

"Is there anything we can do?" She desperately asked the others, who were also crowded into the cabin. It was a tight fit.

"Hey, if you want to go out there and fight the combined forces of Shinra/Midgar, and Junon, be my guest!" Barret commented.

"Barret," Biggs reprimanded.

"Sorry."

"Seriously," Wedge said, "Aeris is right. There should be something we can do. Wutai was our only hope, and now it's a lost cause." This statement only provoked further sobbing in the teenage girl.

"Yuffie," Aeris said soothingly, "everything will be alright. You'll see!" She looked at the others, seemingly asking for some support.

"Yeah, cheer up, kiddo!" Biggs replied, the others saying various comments of the same fashion.

"Thanks guys," the teenage girl said, pulling away from Aeris, "but I think I'm just going to go to my cabin now." Without a word more she left the room in a hurry.

"Poor girl…" Zoë mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Biggs sighed. He was obviously getting worn down. "So what should we do? Should we still head out the Rocket Town?"

"I say we should at least try. Maybe…maybe get some more people. Get a bigger resistance going…maybe…" Reeve said unsteadily.

There was a moment of silence before Biggs turned to Reeve, a grin played out on sharp features.

"Why Reeve, I never in a million years expected you to suggest something like that! Ok! We'll do it!"

"But, what if something happens?" Zoë asked. "What if…what if something goes wrong? We could all be heading into a death trap!"

"We'll never know unless we try!"

***

Tifa sighed in her seat at the table. The interrogation room looked exactly like they did on television. It was a small room with table, a few chairs, and an incredibly bright lamp strung from the ceiling.

"So?" The familiar face in front of her questioned, glaring down at her with his Mako-enhanced eyes.

"No. I won't tell you." Wine eyes met ocean-blue, both slanted into glares.

"You're making a big mistake you know," General Strife told her.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"How's that?"

Strife smirked as he sat in the chair he had been standing in front of. "Tell me if you recognize this man," shuffling through some papers on the table he pulled out a photograph someone Tifa recognized immediately. His flame colored hair drooped in his, and his aquamarine eyes held the same laughter they always did.

"That…that's Reno," she said, almost in confusion.

"Exactly. A former Turk, now in your pathetic excuse of a resistance."

The woman glared at him. "Get to the point. What does Reno have to do with this?"

"Well, I see that you aren't aware of the fact that he, along with a few others, attempted a rescue mission for you."

"They did?"

"Yes, an unsuccessful one, obviously, back in Junon." He paused to place the photo back on the table. "Well, Mr. Big Shot Turk here was wounded and captured as well. Right now he's receiving medical treatment at the infirmary of this compound."

"That doesn't answer my question. What does Reno have to do with this?"

The general glared at her. "Fine, if you must have spelled out for you." Clearing his throat he went on. "Either tell us where Avalanche is or Reno dies."

***

Alli shrank back to the corner of the corridor where she had hidden a moment ago when a girl close to her in age had come jogging out the door. She could hear noise behind the door she had been eavesdropping at once more, and hoped she wouldn't get caught. Now people began trickling out the door.

First came another girl, this one a bit taller, with blonde hair and sharp green eyes. Next another girl, close to the same height as the previous, with long, wavy chestnut hair. Her green eyes were soft, and seemed to be drowning in worry.

The door stood open, though no one came out, for a few more seconds, until finally the person she had been waiting for came out, shutting the door behind him and heading the opposite direction that the girls had taken.

"One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, go!" Stepping calmly out of the corner, she hurried to catch up with him.

"Biggs! Hey, Biggs wait up!"

The man halted in his tracks and turned at the sound of her voice.

"Hey! Alli! Long time no see."

"Yeah!" She stopped when she finally reached him. "So um…what're you doing here?"

"Oh…uhh…well, we're um…going to…Rocket Town."

"We?" Oh, she knew well who 'we' was, she just wanted to make him sweat.

"Um, yeah. I'm with some friends. But enough about me, what're you doing here?

"Oh, I'm going to…see some family." It wasn't exactly a lie. She was going to Rufus and Rufus was family.

"Ah, I see."

"Ok, um, there's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

He eyed her a second before asking, "Yes?"

"Yeah um, are in Avalanche?"

"WHAT?!" She could almost see the gears in his head turning and trying to come up with something to say. "Where…where did you come up with that silly idea? Of course I'm…not in…Avalanche."

"Mmm-hmmm…" The teenager gave him his best Why don't I believe you? look.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh I dunno…I heard some rumors…and you just sort of disappeared around the same time that Shinra came storming into Sector Seven. Seems like a bit of a big coincidence, doesn't it?"

"N-no, not at all!"

"Is something the matter?" Alli leaned in a bit closer. "You look pretty nervous."

"I'm not nervous…not at all!"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, um…I've got some…stuff to do, so I better be off. See ya!" Without another word he tore off down the corridor.

"Tsk, tsk. Didn't his mother ever teach him not to lie?"

***

"Are they still heading to Rocket Town?"

"Yes, sir."

"You say they're going to try and talk that man, Highwind into helping?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, make sure you keep us updated, Zoë."

"I will, sir."

***

The ship from Junon to Costa Del Sol docked at the beach resort town late that night. Most of its passengers chose to stay and sleep until morning, except for the anxious members of Avalanche, followed closely by a snooping teenage girl by the name of Alli Shinra.

"Hmm…I wonder where they're off to now? I hope they stay in town a few days, I don't want to have to hit the road this soon."

The group of eight people stayed close to each other, heading on the same path, but split into separate groups of four, most likely so they didn't seem suspicious.

The short blonde followed the group faithfully, always keeping a bit of distance between them, but not too much. She didn't want to lose them after all. Every now and then, when she was close enough, she could pick up bits and pieces of their conversations.

"…Wutai was our only hope…"

"…poor Yuffie."

"…hope her dad's alright."

"I hope Tifa and Reno…"

That was about the extent of what she heard.

Yeesh, they better hurry up and find somewhere to stop, my feet are killing me! She glanced up at the moon, it was high in the sky and giving off plenty of light for the streets that had no lamp posts to illuminate the way. Up ahead she heard one of them say, "Hey, there's all night café, wanna stop and get something to eat?" She could hear several murmured replies, but couldn't make them out and guessed that they all agreed because a few seconds later they all disappeared into a small, still lit building on the corner of the street.

Great. I can't go in there, Biggs would see me and get suspicious. Hmm…guess I'll just wait outside.

***

Yuffie sighed as she sat down in a booth next to James. "I. Am. So. Tired." As if to prove her point, she laid her head on the table.

Aeris grinned at her from across the booth, as did Reeve, who was sitting next to Aeris.

"Ahhh, poor Yuffie," James said, half-way sarcastic, half-way serious.

"I don't see why we couldn't have stayed on the boat," the Wutain complained, her voice muffled by the table. "At least until morning so we could have slept."

"Don't worry," Reeve told her. "After awhile you get used to not getting any sleep." The only made her let out a little whine she had been building up.

"How long does Biggs think it will be before reach Rocket Town?" James asked the two across the booth from him, ignoring the younger girl's pouting noises.

"Depends," Aeris answered. "If we can find a chocobo stable or farm with enough birds for all of us, a couple of days. If we have to double on them, maybe three or four. But, if we get unlucky and have to walk, maybe as long as a week, possibly even longer."

"Great," The Cetra sighed.

All of a sudden, the sulking Yuffie sat up, then stood. "I can't take it. I'm going for a walk!" Without word more she began to leave the café, and the others.

"Hey! Don't wander to far!"

"Don't worry! I can take care of myself!" Turning to face them as she approached the door, she grinned and waved as if to show them that she was alright, then turned once more and left.

As soon she exited the café, she glanced around, observing her surroundings. Something didn't feel right.

Then it hit her. She could hear, faintly, sounds of a scuffle in the near by alley. Without thinking twice she took off in a dead sprint for the dark alley cut between two building across the street.

Sure enough, there in darkness two men were holding a struggling girl who seemed to be close to Yuffie in age up against the brick wall.

"Ah, look at this little cutie," one of the men said to the other.

"Leave…leave me alone!" The girl continued to struggle, her ice blonde hair flying about wildly as she does so,

"I don't think we want to, sweet heart."

"I'd do what she said," Yuffie hollered to them. "Or you're gonna be real sorry, real soon."

The two men looked at the newest arrival, then at each other and began laughing. One of them dropped his grip on the struggling blonde and started to approach the brunette.

"Oh really? And what're you gonna do?" He was now directly in front of Yuffie. Leaning in he practically whispered right into her ear, "You're just a little girl."

"Oh am I?" Without warning she ducked and rolled between the man's legs, springing up behind him and swinging her right leg up against the back of his head. He went down hard, but didn't stay.

Leaping up, he tried to get a hold of her wrist, but she was too quick for him. Jumping into the air, she flipped over his head, grabbing his shoulder in the process and slamming him onto the alley floor. This time, he didn't get up.

"Holy shit…" The other man whispered, practically to himself. Without another word he dropped the blonde and took off towards the other end of the alley, disappearing.

After making sure the downed attacker wasn't going to be getting up any time soon, Yuffie hurried over to the girl.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. Fine. Thank you!"

The Wutain teenager grinned. "No problem." She offered hand to the girl, who accepted it gratefully, pulling herself off of the dirty ground. "I'm Yuffie."

"Alli."

"Well, nice to meet you, Alli."

"Likewise, Yuffie."

***

James frowned, glancing at his watch again. Yuffie had been gone for quite awhile if she was just going for a walk.

"Dude," Biggs started from his seat, previously occupied by Yuffie. "She'll be alright. Quit worrying!"

"Who said I'm worrying?" The Cetra asked defensively. "I was just…curious as to what time it was."

"You've been checking your watch every five seconds since she left," Reeve spoke up. "If you're really just interested in the time, I'd say you're one weird guy."

Aeris grinned. "He doesn't need to be obsessed with time to be called weird." Biggs and Reeve chuckled at this comment, while James turned red. "Ahh I was just teasing."

"You know, I think Yuffie had the right idea," he stood up, "I'm going for a walk."

"James! Wait!" He didn't stop, but slowed when he heard Biggs' voice. "I'm coming too."

"Ok." The two headed to the door when it all of sudden swung open and in stepped Yuffie and…

"Alli!" Biggs exclaimed, completely taken in by surprise.

"Hey! Biggs!" The girl waved, still giggling over something Yuffie had said.

"What…what're you doing?"

"Wellllll," she drug out, "I couldn't stand being cooped up on that boat any longer, so I decided to come and walk around Costa Del Sol a bit! And well…I was walking around here and all of a sudden these two guys come out of nowhere and pull me into an alley! Well, they start shoving me around a bit, until Yuffie here comes and saves the day!"

"Yup," Yuffie grinned. "I kicked some major boo-tay."

"I'm sure." James rolled his eyes, then grunted when she slapped him.

"So you two know each other?" Yuffie asked, eyeing them both.

"Yeah, I met Biggs the other night at that bar in Sector Seven of Midgar. I think you showed up right as I was leaving," Alli explained.

"Oh that's right! That's when Tifa yelled at you for selling alcohol to a minor," Yuffie grinned at Biggs. "I thought you looked a bit familiar."

"Yeah, you too," She once more turned back to Biggs. "Say, are you still going to Rocket Town?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"Well, I was wondering…could I maybe…tag along? I don't really know my way around and I'm worried that I'll get lost." Great, now I sound a stupid blonde…oh wait, I AM a stupid blonde.

"You know…I don't think that that's a good idea." Yuffie and Alli both looked at him sharply.

"Why not?" Yuffie demanded.

"Yeah why not?" Alli chimed in.

"Well um…see…" The blonde girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh Biggs, give it up. I already know who you guys are and why you're going to Rocket Town. And let me add, you can't lie very well."

Biggs just stood there, his mouth gaping.

"Great!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Then you can come with us! I finally have someone my own age!" The two hurried over to the table where Aeris and Reeve were sitting to introduce the newest member of Avalanche. They already seemed inseparable.

"Yeah…great." Biggs mumbled, heading over to another table, a chuckling James following him.

"Hey," the Cetra grinned at him. "We needed more people anyway, right?"

"Yeah…hey James, does Alli…I dunno, remind you of anyone?"

The young man looked over at the blonde. "Huh, now that you mention it, yeah. Can't put my finger on who though."

"Me either, and that worries me."

***

Rufus Shinra grinned from the comfort of his suite in Wutain fortress.

"Ah, life is grand!" This wasn't said to anyone, since there was no one else in the room. It was merely an observation on his part.

Now that I have the three largest cities in the world under my control, the rest will be like taking candy from a baby. I still can't believe that silly fool Godo was stupid enough to let his city fall like this…even I gave him more credit than that. Oh well, no time for pity. I have a world to conquer.

***

Author's Notes: *gasp* I finished chapter 8! Yee-haw! (Hey, I'm from the Mid-West, yee-haw is a common phrase here!) I hope you enjoyed it. I played around slightly with some action, and I'm getting fairly comfortable with it, so who knows! Maybe I'll throw a huge fight in here somewhere. I have sorta of been planning one between Tifa and Cloud…now THAT would be cool. Ok, well, I leave for New York City this Wensday, so unless I get it written between now and Tuesday, don't except Chapter 9 soon. Although…I am the mood to write…so who knows! Since this IS Spring Break, I may finish 9 on Monday or Tuesday…but I doubt it.