War
The only way to peace
Well, I don't fall for that
Raining tears
You're righteous, so righteous...
You're always so right
Go ahead and dream
Go ahead believe that you are the chosen one.
Dave Matthews Band "Last Stop"
Morning drew without anyone noticing. Avalanche was assembled in a small sub-level of a building near the hangar in the Underground while Cid and Vincent gave them instructions.
"Alli, Biggs, and Wedge, you three will be going with myself to Wutai. James, Aeris, and Yuffie, you three will be going down to Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon. Reeve and Barret you will be going with Cid to Costa Del Sol and Correl." Vincent had sort of taken over, because Cid didn't seem entirely awake.
"Uh…question!" Biggs rose his hand slightly into the air with a confused look on his face. "How will any of us be getting to where we are going?"
The raven-haired man nodded, understanding his confusion. "The five of you that will be staying on the Central Continent will be going by air, while we will take a small submarine until we are approximately half a mile off the shore. We will then take a tiny boat to the beach two miles outside of the city, where we will meet several members on the Underground faction in Wutai."
"Oh. Well then, you've just got everything planned out, haven't you?" Alli, who was seated next to him, reached over without looking and pried his wringing hands apart.
"Quit worrying," she said lowly, as Vincent and Cid went on.
"Quit worrying?!?" His eyes were wide as he turned to face her. "How can you say that? We could be walking into a death trap!"
"Ahem, Biggs?" Another voice, coming from the other side of the nervous Avalanche member, drifted toward them.
"Yeah Reeve?"
"You're starting to sound like me. Shut up."
***
"For the love of all things holy, what are you two doing!?"
"Hold still!"
"Let me go!"
"Aw, it won't hurt! I promise!"
"We're gonna make you all nice and pretty."
"I'm not a little baby-doll for you two to play with you know."
"You aren't?" Tifa gave Jessie a questioning look. "Did I hear him right?"
The bleached blonde nodded. "I believe you did. Silly boy, he doesn't know what he's saying."
"Let go of me!" Reno flailed about, trying to wrench of the two girl's grasp, but their hold was just too tight.
"Hold still, ya big baby! It's just a braid." Jessie, sensing the ex-Turk' giving in, loosened her grip on his shoulders while Tifa's fingers wove in and out of his red hair.
"Why, pray tell, are you braiding my hair?" He gave Jessie a sideways glance.
"We're bored."
With raised eyebrows he lowered the book he had been thumbing through. "We're about to face quite possibly the most dangerous even in the history of the Planet, and you're bored?"
"Yup."
"Amazing."
***
"We're leaving in a hour," Alli said plainly, sitting on the Highwind's porch swing next to Yuffie.
"Yeah, I know." The ninja, her feet not quite touching the ground from where she sat, swung her legs back and forth.
"What's wrong? Don't want to do this?" The strawberry blonde leaned back against the back of the swaying chair.
"No, it's not that it's just…I wanted to go to Wutai." She began to tap slightly on her knees. "I wanted to go there and personally kick Rufus's ass for all this, you know?"
"Err…yeah…" Alli's blue eyes began to search the ground aimlessly. She took a breath before speaking again. "Yuffie? If I told you something now, would you swear not to tell anyone else?"
"Uh…sure!" Yuffie's grayish-brown eyes glanced over Alli.
"And you promise not to get mad and hate me?"
"Sure."
"Swear?"
"I swear."
"Ok," she took another deep breath. "Well, I suppose the easiest way to say this is to tell you my name."
"You're name?" A puzzled look washed over the Wutain's face. "But your name is Alli."
The blonde girl raised an eyebrow. "I have a last name ya know."
"Err…right!" Sitting up straighter, and shielding her eyes from the still-low sun, Yuffie looked over at her friend again. "Which would be…?" Silence. "Alli?"
"Er…it's," she muttered something so low under her breath, Yuffie couldn't begin to distinguish it.
"Come again?"
"It's Shinra!" Silence one more. A much longer period of silence than before. "Yuffie?"
"You're…Alli…Shinra?" The strawberry blonde nodded weakly. "What, is that just some weird coincidence?" She shook her head. "Come on, you gotta be joking."
"I'm sorry…I should have told you sooner but…I wanted to prove that I'm not like my cousin!"
"Rufus is your cousin?! It's not even a distant relationship?!" The brunette shot up, taking off down the steps. "I can't believe you never told us!" She shouted back.
"Well I'm telling you now, aren't I?!"
The shorter girl stopped dead in her tracks, angrily searching for words. "You know what?! FUCK YOU! I can't believe you actually got me to trust you! What, have you been spying on us for your little cousin!? Does he already know what we're going to do?!"
"Yuffie!" Alli was on her feet as well, marching over to the other girl. "You know it's not like that! Yeah, sure Rufus is my cousin, but that doesn't mean I'm working for him! I don't like the god damned war any more than you do, and if I can be a part of stopping it, then I will."
It was a few moments before Yuffie spoke once more. "Well isn't that just peaches and daisies, but I don't care. You lied to us, and you lied to me." She began to walk off once more.
"Yuffie! Come on!" The brunette girl didn't stop once, she was almost to the road. "At least remember your promise! You swore you wouldn't tell anyone! I don't want them to know until I'm ready to tell them!" But Yuffie had nothing more to say to Alli Shinra.
***
The rain had started in Wutai/Vector. The gods above raged havoc in the skies, throwing out bolts of lightning and screaming with anger. The streets were rapids of dingy rainwater, and not many people could be found outside.
Jessie watched the rain dancing down the grand windows of the abandoned factory. She was still worried about the storm, but the resistance members had told her that many a hurricane had struck the shores of Wutai, but none had ever done serious damage.
"Will we be able to meet them?" Tifa was asking one of the men, Jessie didn't know any of their names. She realized she had no idea what they were talking about.
"Yes, we believe so. We understand that you will want to be there to meet your friends. The three of you will accompany myself to go and meet them at the shore. Then we will return directly here. The four of them, along with Jessie, will stay here for the night, while you and Reno will go back to the hotel, as not to raise eyebrows."
"How long until we leave?" Reno inquired, his mouth set in a deep frown. He was obviously worried something was going to go wrong.
The same man, he seemed to be the one in charge, answered again. "They're planning to leave 'port' in," he quickly checked his pocket watch, "twenty minutes. It will take about three hours for them to reach shore. So the answer to your question is, probably an hour."
Tifa opened her mouth once more to say something, but a particularly loud eruption of thunder that shook the building, Jessie clamping down on the table with her bony fingers immediately, grasping it so tightly her knuckles seemed stained white. The crying of the murderous skies lasted only a brief few seconds, but Jessie's grip on the table did not let up.
"Yeesh," Reno grumbled. "In an hour we won't be able to see in front of our own faces! How're we supposed to find some miserable little rowboat out in this?" Jessie had to admit she agreed with this.
"Not to worry," his answer came. "I know the spot well, and Mr. Valentine knows what he is doing." The Wutain man glanced around the three members of Avalanche, and, seeing no more questions in their eyes, told them with a note of finality, "Alright, we have quite a task on our hands. Please relax until we have to leave. We will supply you with rain and hiking gear, and gear for your friends, so you need not worry about it."
"Er, excuse me," Jessie spoke up for the first time. "Did you say hiking gear?"
"I did."
"We're going to hike to this remote beach?" Her jaw was almost to the table top.
"We are." Was it just Jessie, or was there a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Oh." She could tell Tifa and Reno were smothering snickers as the three of them stood to leave the makeshift briefing room. "Ah shut up you two." The trio, made their way through the dark, and in some cases leaky, hallways to small room with three couches. Many of the rooms in the factory had been restored to be a bit more comfortable than their previous state. As they entered the room, Jessie plopped down on the closest sofa, while Reno and Tifa sat on the one opposite it.
"So Jessie doesn't like hiking?" the redheaded man teased as Tifa laughed Jessie stuck out her tongue.
"It's not like I don't like it, it's just…I've been doing secretarial work for over a year now!! I'm not used to physical labor anymore!" She crossed her arms and pouted. "Damnit. This sucks."
Tifa, laughing harder, told her, "Hey, you wanted the undercover job! I offered to take it, but you said you wanted it." The brunette settled down in the couch, pretending not to notice as Reno slyly slid his arm around her shoulder. Jessie however, made an effort to bring their attention to it.
"So am I going to get the story behind all this lovey-dovey crap with you two, or what?" A huge, cheesy grin had found its way onto her face.
Reno shrugged carelessly. "Sure, if we can get story behind you and that Shinra soldier back at the café."
The grin was lost remarkably fast.
***
Zachary Briggs stood in front of the Mako-powered submarine which would carry him and about 500 SOLDIER's to Gongaga. It bobbed up and down violently as the sea pitched angrily. Rain beat upon the ground and splattered salty water from the ocean, splashing the general's slicker and obscuring his vision.
They had to leave earlier than originally planned if they wanted to make it to Gongaga by the next morning. The storm had crept up on them much more quickly than any of them had anticipated. Now, they would have to send the ships out in but an hour, which hadn't left Briggs with much time for a briefing speech. A cloud of worries seemed to have settled itself above his head.
And yet, it wasn't the invasion that was bothering him the most. He was worried about Cloud. While he knew Strife was generally a detached person by nature (or at least by the nature that Hojo had left him with), his quietness as of late was eerie. He seemed to be brooding over something Zack couldn't begin to identify. But he was fairly certain it had something to do with Avalanche.
The blonde general had been released earlier that morning, though Zack was willing to bet it was on his own word, rather the attending doctor. It had taken a bit, but Briggs had finally convinced him to stay in Vector. With the amounts of SOLDIER's leaving, it would be the perfect opportunity for Avalanche to strike again.
Avalanche was another story…his secretary had mysteriously disappeared, and he was fairly certain it had something to do with rebel group. He didn't think too much of it, though. They'd long been questioning Graces's loyalties. As the winds howled and the heavens sobbed, General Zachary Briggs boarded the submarine, intent on making the invasion as successful as possible.
***
"Damnit, this sucks!" Wedge grumbled, as he punched the seat of the vessel he occupied. Vincent hadn't been kidding when he'd said this sub was small. While it looked nice and roomy on the outside, inside seemed to be taken up by all sorts of…crap. That was the only word Wedge had for it. Crap.
It had been cool enough when they'd first started out. The submarine had been located in a sublevel of the Underground, where an underground stream had been widened and deepened for the sub to use as a tunnel of sorts until they hit the open sea. They were deep enough that the treacherous waves that now resided above were of no bother to them, but Wedge couldn't help but feel nauseous.
"Oh quit your griping!" Biggs told his pal, rolling his brown eyes as he did so. "We getta see Tifa in less than two hours, so try and be happy." He turned to Alli, who a bit of a ways down from them. "Everything alright with you?"
"Hm?" She looked up from the space into which she was staring. "Oh, yeah! Perfectly peachy. Why do you ask?" She nervously ran a hand through her hair.
"Oh, no reason. You've just been disturbingly quiet." He swiveled in his chair and glanced over at Vincent, who seemed to be running the ship. "How're things over here?"
"Everything is going according to plan." His answer came. "The currents are actually stronger than we'd planned for, and I believe we will get there at least a half and hour quicker than previously believed. Maybe even sooner if we raise to a more…stormy level in the water."
Wedge groaned at the word "stormy." "Maaaaan, I was getting seasick on that damn passenger liner we took from Junon to Costa Del Sol, I don't think I can handle stormy waters in a miniscule submarine!"
"Too bad, take us up, Mr. Valentine!"
A deep chuckle, then, "Aye-aye, sir."
***
Tifa tightened the slicker around her face. The wind had gotten a bitter bite to it in the last half-an-hour, and they'd been walking in it for awhile. Thankfully, Shion (they had finally drug a name out of the Wutain man) said the beach wasn't far off now.
They'd walked for the most part in silence. Reno, walking beside her, would crack a joke every now and then to keep things light hearted, and Shion would call out their progress every so often. Soon enough, a small, desolate beach came into view, and at it was a miserable little row boat and four very wet people.
"They're here already!" Jessie called out in front of them, beginning to race ahead, Tifa right at her heels. "BIGGS! WEDGE!!"
"JESSIE!" Two voices as one called out, both equally as excited.
Soon, the two girls were on the beach, both hugging they're old friends until they were blue in the face, though that might have been from the cold.
"Tifa, baby," Biggs was saying once Reno and Shion had made it to them, "you don't know how happy I am to see alive!"
"Hey," Reno shouted good naturedly, "hands off my girl there."
"You're girl?" Biggs asked him, a grin on his face. "I do believe you are mistaken, for you see, Tifa always has, and always will be, my girl."
Tifa laughed heartily as the two faked punches then shook hands and greeted each other. "Alright now, no fighting, please."
Alli sort of stood to the side as everyone said their hellos to old friends. Shion and Vincent immediately began a discussion of what was to happen, and Biggs, Tifa, Jessie, Reno, and Wedge, with the last of them warily looking at the redheaded man, all caught up with each other.
"Oh," Biggs, stopped in the middle of sentence, turning to the ashen teenager. "Alli come over here! Guys," he faced the other four once more, "this is Alli! Er, I think Tifa and Reno, that you met her briefly back in Midgar. Anyway," he continued as she joined them, "we met back up with her on the boat. I'm not sure what her expertise are, if she has any…" he gave her a sideways glance, "but she's all around cool gal, and alright in my book, and since I was basically running things, I said, 'What the hell! We need more people!' and I let her come with us."
Wedge and she were both looking at him as though he had sprouted wings and begun flapping around by the time he was done.
"Er…alright, maybe that's not exactly how it happened, but she's still cool!"
***
Rufus Shinra was a bit bored. He really had nothing to do until the armies reached their destinations. He'd been hoping Alli might call him again, but so far, no luck.
He was worried about the Turks. They hadn't come back. And that was bad. Very, very bad. The lack of anyone taking responsibility led him and his advisors to believe they might just be dead. And that was worse. Much, much worse.
Another thing that was bugging him was Avalanche. They'd been quiet lately. Much too quiet. Back in Midgar, they hadn't been happy unless they were bombing Shinra training facilities, or sometimes offices. Now, he hadn't heard from them since the two prisoners had escaped.
Well, maybe they've finally figured out that they can't win.
Little did he know how wrong he was about to be proven.
***
"Are we almost there yet?" Alli's voice, one might say it was whining, rang out over the howling winds.
"Just hang in there, Alli!" Reno, the closest one to her that somewhat knew the way, hollered back. "It shouldn't be too much further!"
That didn't seem to comfort the teenage girl much. The temperature seemed to have dropped ten degrees in the past hour that they had been walking. The rain was falling heavier still, and the wind was still nipping at their heels.
The were walking in three rows, the first consisting of Shion and Vincent, the next of Reno, Tifa, Biggs, and Jessie, after them came Wedge and Alli, both of whom seemed to be pouting.
"What's your problem?" Alli asked the grumbling man next to her, sick of all his under-the-breath mumblings.
"Nothing," was all he said, glaring ahead of him in the general direction of Reno, who's had was slipped inside Tifa's. They were both chatting merrily with Biggs and Jessie, as though they weren't in the middle of an oncoming hurricane.
"Ah, I see."
The two of them walked in silence until they reached their destination. A grungy, broken down factory that didn't look very warm and dry to Alli. Oh joyous joy of joys.
"You call this shelter?" she muttered as they entered the bleak building, and were greeted with an equally bleak room.
"This way," Shion called to the newcomers, taking them deep into the factory, and finally arriving in a surprisingly comfortable room, not to mention a warm and dry one. A large, round, wooden table surrounded by squishy office chairs took up most of the room, and each person quickly took a seat.
"Right, well, I know you're cold and wet," the Wutain glanced over the dripping group, "so I'll keep this short. Everyone here except Tifa, Reno, and myself, will be staying here tonight. Tomorrow, the real work starts."
"Er, excuse me for interrupting," Biggs began, "but what exactly are we going to be doing?"
"Well, for the most part, we'll be causing a bit of anarchy. Small revolts, nothing overly large, just big enough to get Shinra's busy enough to allow us a bit more… freedom about the town." He cleared his throat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and check and make sure everything is in order for tomorrow."
***
"Yuffie, I love ya and all that crap, but if you don't quit mumbling under your breath, I'm going to punch you," James, who was standing inbetween Aeris and Yuffie in the hangar, was getting a bit annoyed. Barret and Reeve had left in a heavy-duty truck along with Cid and some others. Since then, Yuffie had done nothing but grumble incoherently.
"Alright you three," Shera stood in front of them. Behind her was a door to a sub-level, much like the one Biggs, Wedge, and Alli had taken some hours earlier. "It's been confirmed now that Shinra's forces should reach Gongaga in an hour. It's time for you three and all the others to head out." She turned to the massive door and slowly opened it. Behind, Aeris's and James's mouths dropped, and Yuffie quit her mumbling.
In front of them sat the largest thing any of them had seen. It looked…like nothing they had ever seen before.
"That is the Highwind," the engineer told, with more than a bit of pride in her voice. "It will be your transport to Gongaga."
"Wow…" Yuffie was the only one who had got her voice back. "That is really big."
Shera chuckled and waved for them to follow her. "Come on up and I'll show you around!"
***
The streets of Vector were for the most part deprived of life. Dingy rainwater was beginning to gather in the streets, and the sewers were starting to flood. Most people could be found tucked safely away in their homes. That, however, did not apply to the icy-blonde Shinra general who now trudged through the streets alone. One thing was on his mind and it sure as hell wasn't how wet it was or how cold.
Tifa Lockhart. 21 years old. From Nibelheim. With a face that was as familiar to him as a next-door-neighbor…or a former next-door neighbor…
He'd been plagued with dreams about her lately…not her now, but her as a child…living next door to him and his mother, a mother for the life of him he couldn't remember outside of the dreams. But that wasn't what bugged him the most about the dreams.
What annoyed him greatly was that everything was so familiar. He knew where that door would lead to, though he didn't recall ever seeing ever before. And a song…someone playing the piano, far off, yet somewhere close.
In the dreams, he was a child. He'd seen his face in a mirror. His blonde hair was shorter, and his blue eyes had no Mako glow to them. He wandered around the strangely familiar house until a woman's voice, his mother's, called out to him, telling him to go outside and play. And then, his voice, so young and innocent on his ears, answered, with no use of his own will, pleading with his mother not to make him. He didn't like the other kids of the town. But it had been no use, before he knew it, he was outside.
The melody of the piano was louder outside. Still faint, but louder. A group of boys were congregated nearby, laughing about something. Cloud chose to ignore them. The music was coming from the house next door, through an open window. As he drew nearer, the sound grew louder and more…alive. Through the window, he could see her. Hunched over, playing the song with no music in front of her. Her chocolate brown hair, long even back then, fell in her face. Her fingers stumbled, then left the keys, the music halting abruptly, small hands pushing the rebel locks back behind her ear. She stared at the piano for a few moments before standing and turning to look out the window.
Her wine colored eyes went wide when they fell upon him. She opened her mouth as though speaking, but no sound came out. She paused, waiting for an answer from him. He asked her to repeat what she had said, but she just sighed a noiseless sigh and left.
That was where the dream let him go. It didn't always follow those lines, but it always involved Tifa and he, as young children. One of the more recurring ones took place by a large well in the middle of a town…Nibelheim. They all happened in Nibelheim. His hometown…her hometown…why had he never seen it before? He had always known he knew her from somewhere…why had home never crossed his mind? The answer had been looking him in the face the entire time.
Not that he had all the answers…Tifa was in Vector somewhere. He would find her, make her answer him, find out as much as she could. And he had a little something to repay her little traitor boyfriend.
***
"Caleb, quit worrying about your little girlfriend and get your mind on our mission here!" Captain Reice glared at young man next to him. They were both quite soaked as they entered one of the smaller buildings in the complex. They had been told to stay behind to watch out for any attacks Avalanche might try and pull off while the larger portion of the military was over seas.
"She's not my girlfriend! And I'm not worrying!" He flicked his soggy brown hair out of his face, green eyes glaring.
"No, you're just brooding over the fact that a girl you're interested in, and that's interested in you, whom you've gone out with before, hasn't called you and you haven't seen in awhile."
"Shut up!"
I'm not worried…I'm just…curious! I've never gone this long without hearing or seeing from her. It's just really weird! She just disappeared.
After doing a thorough check of the building, they headed back out in the rain, done for the day and making their way back to the barracks.
I just wish she'd call or something…maybe she did when we were out. I'll bet she did! A hopeful smile found its to his face. That's it, she probably left a message for me, and I just haven't gotten it yet!
With a renewed spirit, Caleb Hatcher patted Reice on the back and hurried off to the barracks, not feeling any of the cold that was spreading through his body, or rain that was leaping from the clouds above.
Author's Note: Well, I couldn't just leave Caleb hanging now could I? And it just seems second-nature to put him with Reice. I haven't decided how to work out the whole Jessie/Grace-Caleb thing, but don't you worry! It should work itself out nicely. Not really anything else to say about this chapter. I think from now on, I'll chapters based on the teams, so they will most likely be shorter, but action-packed ^__^ Until next time!
