Chapter Twelve

Yuffie's eyes opened with a start. Where had all the water gone? Where was she? Was this some kind of dream?

She reached down to pinch herself. It didn't hurt!

So, this is a dream...

She looked around. She was in Wutai, allright, and she looked ahead in horror at the house in front of her. Fearfully, she took a step back, but it was too late. A familiar figure pushed the sliding door open and leaned against the doorway, smirking evily at her.

Reminds me of...Reno...

But this was no Reno. She knew this man, and very well, she might add. Unfortunately. He just kept glaring at her, a bemused expression on his face, and she could see the fake pity oozing out of his look, knowing all too well what he was going to do.

So Yuffie turned and ran as fast as she could, but just as soon as she had turned around and took a couple steps, he had somehow appeared right in front of her.

Shit, almost forgot about his "powers".

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked in wutain, the same bemused yet sorry look on his face. This almost made her cry out and punch him right in the gut, remembering all of the things he had done to her in the past, but something was holding her back.

Instead, she just glared at him. "Trying to get away from you." she spat.

Wrong words.

Before she could get out of the way, the force making her stay in place, he drew back a hand and slapped her across the face. And hard. Very, very hard. Falling to the ground, she touched her cheek, which was now beet red, burning from the pain of the collision.

Tears fell from the corner of her eyes, and she noticed now, that this was way too painful to be a dream. She hoped to dear god that she was just imagining the pain, and that she'd wake up soon; She'd hate to be stuck in a dream like this.

Maybe this is Hell.

Still in tears, he grabbed her by the collar and picked her up, nearly dragging her back into the house, and then slammed her against the wall, glaring at her through his feirce, green eyes. Just looking back at him made her tears flow even more.

Damnit! I have to be strong, I must! I can't let him get to me like he used to...

But I can't fucking help it!!!!!!

"I'd like you to repeat what you just said, except, please alter it to my liking." he said to her, not taking his eyes off of her figure for a second.

Yuffie didn't answer, focusing all of her energy on trying to keep her tears back, her attempts unsuccessful as they were.

"Damnit! Stop fucking crying, you bitch." he said calmly.

Furious, she drew back her foot and lunged her knee right into his crotch bitterly, enjoying the crunching sound she heard in reply. Fuming, he fell to his knees and glared back up at the young wutain ninja.

"You...ugh...bitch..." he gasped.

Yuffie stepped forward to get a better look at him and looked down over his body mercilessly. "Shut up." she said coldly, suprising even herself.

"No," he replied. In a swift and liquid like motion, he was up again and dragging her by her hair to their room. Struggling frantically, she kicked at him and screamed in protest, but he threw her down onto the flat bed recklessly.

Yuffie tried to roll out of the way as he dropped down to her, but he effortlessly held her down by her shoulders. Crying, she pleaded for him to stop, but he didn't listen, and just ripped at her clothes, laughing bitterly at her.

When he was finally done with her clothes, he bended forward suddenly bit down hard onto her neck. Yuffie winced in pain as he did, and she knew he was no vampire.

He's just doing this to give me more pain...

By now she was all out of tears, but if she weren't, she'd still be at it. His teeth sunk down harder still, and then he finally let go and his head moved down towards her chest.

Oh, god, please, no!

And he bit down feircely, and her scream echoed all around her.

The rest was a blur to her.


Ugh...Now where am I?

Her eyes opened weakily. She looked at her surroudings and all she saw was darkness, despite the little crack of light near the floor. She was in a closet, her wrists, all worn and bloody, were handcuffed to the hanger bar.

"K'uso..." Yuffie swore, and struggled against the cuffs to get free. After a few minutes of aimless struggling, she hung quietly, out of breath and heaving for more.

"Chikusho...Natsuke.." she cursed to herself.

She heard the door open and close loudly. But what suprised her was the voice.

"Yuffie!" he was panicked and worried, she could tell from the mere tone. Yuffie struggled, drawing his attention and she heard him run to the closet door. "Yuffie..." she heard him mutter, and the knob turned and Reno stood before her, a scared look on his face, looking weird against his glowing, mako eyes.

She then realized that she was stripped naked and bruised in various places, and she immediantly blushed crimson.

Ignoring her embarassment, he moved forward to help her out. "Baby..." he cooed, raising his nightstick to her wrists and stunning the handcuffs. She fell limp and into his arms, and he helped her stumble out of the closet. But before he could set her down, she hugged him, crying even harder then she had been before.

He soothed her back comfortingly, stroking her gently, and she shivered in sobs in his chest, totally breaking down in front of him. But she didn't care. It was all over, anyway. She was in hell, and she knew she could never get out.

"You're not in hell..." she heard him whisper softly into her ear. Firghtened, Yuffie pulled back and looked at him oddly, shivering from the feel of his cold breath on her ear. Reno smirked impishly at her and then he turned and leaned towards her and whispered, "...This is the lifestream..."

She stumbled once more, out of his grasp and glared at him. "WHAT?!!!" she cried out, her glare thickening with her horrifically challenged set of eyes. "So you're...That wasn't really..." she looked around furiously as if someone were watching them, and then returned her glare towards him. "What the hell is going on?!!"

"All that we are..." Reno began, looking at her empathetically, "...are memories. Your hopes, dreams. What you think of the most..." he looked down at the ground as if not looking at anything at all. "Sort of like creating your own after life." he finished.

Yuffie looked at him skeptically, almost uncertain. "So I can do whatever I want and not get into any trouble?" she asked, a sly look playing on her face. "I can literally control my memory world?" as she spoke she walked over to the window and looked out. The entire house was covered by the lifestream by now! "I can be filthy rich, have anything I want, dress like a skank without even the slightest thought? And people would only care if I wanted them to?"

Shaking his head, Reno strided over to her and stood behind her, looking out the window also. "It's not as easy as you think, doll face." he said with a small snicker.

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked, turning to face him.

"Well, for starters, your sub conciousness, yours in particular," he added with a wink, "is usually quite wild and you can't control it easily. Thoughts happen before you can even register their meaning." he gave her a half smile in reassurance. "Get what I'm sayin'?"

Yuffie sighed. "So, 'Natsuke' could do awful stuff to me all the time for eternity...." she looked up at him fearfully. "...Only because I loathe and think about my hatred to him?"

He nodded. "You got it. See, we're only painful memories, except for me, of course." he winked at her again, "You think about your hatred towards Natsuke, you think about all the things he's done to you, and, badaboom, you find yourself looking at this in the mirror." he poked the bite mark on her breast.

Blushing, Yuffie covered herself up with her arms, wishing she had some clothes....Wait!

...She did? Wide eyed, she looked down at her new pair of shoes, dark green cargos, and a wool, green and long sleeved sweater. "It really does work..." she muttered to herself, still shaking from his touch.

"That's what I told ya." Reno said matter of factly.

Yuffie, her face suddenly turning sorrowful, looked up at him with a glint of hope in her eyes. "I want to go home." she whined.

He mirrored her worried expression, reaching his hand up to caress her cheek gently. "Sorry, but you're stuck here." he replied bluntly.

She grabbed his wristed and pulled it down roughly. "If I think hard enough then I can get out of here!" she stated defiantly, tears welling up in her dark brown eyes. "You said if I think hard enough then anything can happen here!"

His eyes widened for a second, and then softened in amusement. "Yeah, 'here'." he corrected, trying his best not to laugh at her.

"Well, I want to get out 'here'. I want to get the hell out of 'here', god damnit!" she grabbed his shirt by the collar and glared up at him, still teary eyed. "I can...can't I?" she asked, quivering.

Reno looked at her for a brief moment at a loss for words. He studied her expression for a second or two, and then smirked. "I guess you could...but only you, this one time." he clasped his firm hands on her shoulders protectively. "You're an exception, along with that cetra." he took his hands off and looked at her dead seriously. "Now. Leave." he stated.

Yuffie looked at him hesitantly. "Who are you...really?" she asked curiously.

He bent forward and whispered to her, "I have no fucking idea." Before she could do anything to control it, everything around her disappeared in a brilliant flare...

Who are you?!


"It appears to be rainy again." Red observed

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out..." Cid grumbled. Even though he was supposed to be 'undercover', as Cloud had told them to be, he still didn't see how he looked different except for his outfit. He was wearing a white teeshirt, blue sweat pants, knee-high grey socks and black sketchers shoes, along with his goggles and a belt. He thought, personally, that he looked like a dork and he'd do anything to get this job over as fast as he could.

But he had to admit that Vincent looked even scarier then before, to him, in his own disguise. He actually looked decent for once, which is what scared Cid the most. He had never seen Vincent dressed in anything besides his red cape outfit, which was now replaced with his old Turk outfit that he had worn long ago before he had met anyone in AVALANCHE.

Red, on the other hand, couldn't be disguised at all. To put it bluntly, it was impossible to disguise a red, lion looking animal with a flaming tail.

They had been traveling around Junon, okay, maybe it would be more accurate to say milling around, for what it seemed to be two or three hours. They were all bored, but they still had to keep a sharp eye out for anything susppicious. Or a magenta colored sorceress with bat wings and long tentacles. Either way, they knew that they'd spot it in a second if anything appeared to be wrong, and it would probably be connected to Jenova.

"This is so fucking boring..." Cid said to himself.

Red shook his head absentmindedly. "It wasn't meant to be fun." he replied. "But it can be fun if we make it that way." he added quickly at the sense of tension in the air.

Cid pulled out a cig and lit it. "I don't see HOW all of this can be fun." he stated, and then put it in his mouth.

Vincent glanced over in their direction, and then looked over his shoulder cautiously. He had the strangest feeling that they were being followed. Deciding to ignore it, he turned back towards the others and followed again.

"We could play a little game." Red suggested thoughtfully.

Cid just chuckled. "Heh, we're not kids, Red." he replied amusingly.

Red scowled. "I may be thirteen in your human years but that doesn't mean I'm not mature. I mean like a little mini game, that's all. Like 'car' or 'truck', as you humans call it." he shot back, trying not make himself sound dumb.

"What kind of game?" Cid asked, not even bothering to look back at him.

Vincent glanced over his shoulder again. He kept sensing the same figure, and every moment he saw it more and more frequently in the heavy crowd behind them. But he still couldn't figure out what the hell it was!

"Well, we can look around in the crowds and count all the people we see with mohawks." Red suggested with a smirk.

Cid looked down at him in disbelief. "Was that a joke you just made?" he asked with a grin.

Red laughed. "Afraid so." he replied. They kept walking, this time in silence. Vincent kept on glancing behind his shoulder, and he noticed that the crowd was gradually thinning out, mostly because it was getting later and later, and more people were probably getting home.

"How many have you seen so far?" Red asked.

Cid grinned to himself. "Four." he answered. "You?"

"Six." Red replied. "There's two more over there near that coffee club."

"Ah..." Cid began, and then noticed that the crowd had totally disappeared, despite the few groups of people that were hanging outside the local clubs and pubs. There was a sudden last clunk of somone's certain metal shoes, making Cid and Red stop right in their tracks.

They both turned around to see Vincent standing there, a figure a few yards in front of him. It was a little girl, not more then six years old, with dirty blonde hair that hung to her shoulders, curly yet clean looking at the same time. She wore on herself a plain white dress, tattered and dirty from her long travels. But despite all of her faults, Vincent couldn't help but ignore the goddess like aura that surrounded the small child.

Her bulging eyes just stared back at him innocently, as if prodding him to make the first move.

"It's just a kid..." Red began, and crouched lower in hesitation. "...then why do I sense something different around it?!" he finished with a low growl.

The girl took a step back in fear of Red, and looked horridly up at Vincent, waiting for the moment when he would tell the monster to destroy her.

But he didn't.

Cid patted Red on the head. "Be nice." he said, his tone sounding oddly like one of Aeris'. He walked past Vincent, and over to the kid. She hesitated, but then looked up at the old pilot curiously. Red followed close behind, and she looked like she was about to go off running, but Vincent came up to her too, behind Cid and Red. Unusually, she found the stone cold look on Vincent's face reassuring, as if telling her not to worry about the red lion right in front of her.

Red leaned closer to her and sniffed at her hair, and then tried to smile, if whatever Red was could smile at all. "What is your name, young lady?" he asked politely.

The girl looked at Red for a very long time before answering in a small and fearful voice.

"Holy."

Cid looked at the girl oddly and stooped himself down to her level. "Holy?" he asked. The girl once more gave him a curious look. "What kind of a name izzat?"

Holy looked at him for a long before answering again.

"I don't know." she finally replied.

Then, Vincent finally threw a question at the young girl. "Why were you following us?" he questioned, and Cid stood up and got out of Vincent's way.

"I don't know." Holy answered, a little quicker this time.

It was Red's turn to ask another. "Where are you parents?" he asked.

"I don't know."

Cid sighed and stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. "Don't you know ANYTHING?!" he asked Holy, trying his best not to sound too angry.

"I don't know." Holy replied. She honestly didn't know!

Red looked up at the pilot. "She seems to like that phrase." he stated.

"At least we have a name for her." Vincent replied, somewhat optimistically. Or at least as optimistic as a pale guy in a forbidding red cape could say.

"Thanks for stating the obvious..." Cid muttered. Vincent just shrugged in reply.

He sighed and looked down at Holy. "'Kay, kiddo." Cid began, "It's time to go back now... Do you want to follow us?" he asked.

Holy looked at them all for a moment, surveying her situation. There weren't many places for her to go, and she surely didn't want to be alone. She nodded. "As long as you take Holy to her family." she said.

Cid, Red, and Vincent all nodded back in return. Then the child grinned evily, a crazed look forming on her young, innocent face. "Holy knows the way baaaack!!!" she suddenly yelled out and ran right past them. They looked at her in suprise, and then took off running after her, not sure about where she was going.

"Why are we following her?" Red asked. "I have a bad feeling about that girl."

Vincent didn't even turn back to look at them as they followed the little girl. "Because, she may be our only hope to defeating Jenova." he replied.

"Defeating Jenova?! This kid is bad news, I tell ya!" Cid shouted over to Vincent in a hysteric matter. "Where the hell did you get the idea that she could help us with Jenova?!"

Then, all of the sudden, Holy stopped short and turned around to look at them. Cid, Vincent, and Red stopped themselves from running right over her and looked down at her. She looked up at them, her face concerned, not matching her own age at all. Holy's eyes narrowed, and after a long while of looking up at them she finally said.

"Jenova?"

Vincent looked over at Cid and Red. "Told you." he shot, sounding oddly unlike himself, and unlikely egotistical for himself. They just stared back at the man in disbelief.

Holy shook her head and then looked back at them timidly. "Follow!" she said, and once again, took off. They kept up with her better this time, and noticed that she was leading them right back to the field out of Junon where the Highwind was parked.

"That kid better not fucking kill us or you're in big trouble, batboy." Cid muttered under his breath.

Vincent just shot him a smug grin in spite of his ghost like features. Cid's eyebrows rose in curiosity. Was Vincent actually enjoying their suspense?


I'm alive.... I can't believe it worked...

Yuffie forced her eyes to open, but her will to sleep was more stronger. Trying again, she found it was useless. She sighed and laid back down where she was. Wherever she was.

She wiggled in the ground to try and get up again. Still no avail. At least she could tell from the wet, grainy feeling around her and the distant smell of stale salt that she was on a beach. And by the faint smell of smoke she could also tell she was near Junon.

Not like that would do me any good...

She heard sand move beside her as someone walked by. She immediantly called out for help, but all that came out of her mouth was a faint squeak. Almost as if on cue the figure that had been walking beside her stopped and she could sense them kneel down beside her.

"What the fuck is a little cat doing out here?" she heard the figure mutter to themself.

Cat? What cat?

They figure prodded her with a twig, which made her angry. Yuffie finally built up her strength, mostly through willpower, and opened her eyes weakily, trying to focus them as best she could.

Red...

"Reno?!" she squeaked.

Suddenly he lept back and almost fell over. "You can talk, too?!" he asked, more through suprise then fear. Yuffie nodded her head. Of couse she could talk, why couldn't she? Then his expression turned from suprise to anger. "How the hell do you know who I am?" he asked in a low growl, reaching for his gun.

Yuffie kept quiet. She looked down at the ground... Which wasn't far down at all!

Waitaminute.... -I'M- the cat!!!

After she didn't answer, Reno just shrugged and mumbled something about loosing his mind as he stood up and walked away. Yuffie watched, silently contemplating her next action as his figure disappeared over a sand dune. She sighed, her shoulder low, and sat down. She couldn't just follow him, could she? What would he think of her if she was stuck as a cat forever?

Maybe that's the price for comming back.... If it is I might as well be as good as dead to them if I can't be of any use.

She didn't hear the sound of churning sand behind her, and the other cat came up behind her and sat down on the ground next to her. Yuffie was in too deep of thought to take notice in him, and just stared down at the ground sadly, almost emotionlessly.

"Why didn't you follow him?"

Yuffie nearly jumped when she heard the new voice. She snapped her head to her right and glared at the other cat. Then her glare ceased when she recognized him and she sighed once more. "How did you know it was me, Karasu?" she asked warily.

If cats could smirk, Karasu would of done just that. "I can tell another omni if I see one" he replied. "So, why didn't you follow him?" he asked after a long, dead silence.

"I'm probably stuck like this forever..." Yuffie replied.

"No you're not."

She looked over to him again. "Prove it." she demanded.

Karasu then nudged her shoulder with one of his front paws. "We're twins. Omnichanged and all." he replied. "I'm a cat, you're a cat. Get it?"

Yuffie looked at him questionably. "But I thought I omnichanged into some sort of she-devil or something like that?"

Karasu shrugged. "Just go after him." he finally tried.

Her eyes widened in suprise. "But I thought you hated Reno..." she trailed off.

"You love him." Karasu stated, glaring deep into her eyes. "Go after him now, or I'll have t hurt ya."

Yuffie nodded and took off over the dunes after Reno in a flash.

A couple moments later, Karasu stood up, human and all, and headed back towards Junon. But not before looking once more in the direction that Yuffie had ran off to, he smiled, and then ran back to the rendevous point where the Highwind sat...


What the fuck was I thinking? If any of the others find out what I did, they'd never live it down. It looks like I won't be accepted there ever again.

Reno picked up a stray pebble that was next to leg and launched it out and across the vast water in front of him. He watched boredly as it skipped several times before plunging itself into the water.

"Maybe that's what I should do..." he mumbled to himself. "I don't think I can take any more of this..." he trailed off as he concentrated on the surface in front of him, as if waiting to see the rock pop up out of nowhere and see it live again.

"So you're just going to give it all up?" a small voice asked from behind him. He didn't even bother to turn to see who it was. He didn't care. "Are you just going to give it all up like that little rock and just plunge into your own death?"

Reno smirked to himself and snickered. "Tch. Not like anyone's gunna miss me." he replied darkly.

Then the small cat that he had encountered earlier pranced up to him and sat itself right in front of him, glaring up into his eyes. "I will." it replied, tear welling up in its eyes as it tried to hold them back.

Reno raised an eyebrow. He had never seen a cat cry before. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded suddenly, grabbing the cat and holding it up to his eyelevel. The cat, too afraid to answer, just whimpered fearfully. Reno glared at it and shook it violently. "Tell me, damnit, or I swear I'll..."

The next thing he knew a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around his waist, holding something against him, sobbing pitifully. He looked down at who it was, and noticed that the cat was gone. In its place was an angel... Or something like it.

It's the closest thing I have to one...

Reno stroked Yuffie's hair comfortingly, trying to shush her. "It's gunna be allright, kid. Don't worry." but she didn't stop crying, she just broke out into more confused sobs. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her as well, rocking her back in forth and stroked her back, whispering to her that everything was going to okay.

"I'm so sorry, Reno..." Yuffie managed to choke out between sobs. "I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you... I'm nothing but a pain in your side, aren't I?"

Reno shuddered, trying to hold back his own tears. He was supposed to be the tough guy, right?

Then why do I want to cry? Why do I feel that I can cry around her? Why would she be a pain in my side at all? If anything I'd be a pain in -her- side!

He pushed her away from him enough so that he could look her straight into the eye. Yuffie's face was red and stained with tears, her eyes pink and her hair like a mop. She really looked like she had gone through a beating! This made him even more sorry.

"Don't be sorry, babe..." Reno whispered. "There was no way either of us could stop it. You were out of control..." Yuffie broke into another fit of sobs and clung to him tightly. He patted her on the head with a smirk. "I would of done the same thing if that had happened to me."

Yuffie stopped crying and nodded, trying to regain her control. "Thanks..." she began, but before she could finish her sentence he lifted her chin up with one of his scarred hands.

His eyes studied her for a moment, as if he were in deep thought. Reno pulled her closer, so close that their noses touched. "What happened to you...?" he asked, his voice full of regret. "Where did you go?"

Yuffie only smiled back. "To hell and beyond." she replied, and then leaned forward, kissing him gently.

A few moments later they both let go and Reno looked at her, confused. "Why can't you tell me where you've been?" he asked.

She just leaned against him with a romantic daze in her eyes. "Oh, you wouldn't wanna know, silly." she replied.

But instead of shutting up like she had planned him to, he asked her, er, demanded of her to tell him, "Tell me what happened to you, god damnit!"

Yuffie looked up at him, wide eyed. He almost sounded desperate, like it was really that big of a deal. Then she smiled again. "Okay, I was in the lifestream." she replied. Reno was about to comment, but Yuffie held her right index finger to his lips. "I'm only back because you wanted me to come back, don't you remember?"

Reno looked at her, confused. "Remember what?" he asked dumbly.

She sighed and leaned against his shoulder again, looking at the sky. "You'll find out tonight when you go to sleep..." she mumbled. "Your subconscience..." she trailed off as she fell asleep.

"Yuffie!!" Reno demanded, shaking her. "Wake up and tell me what the fuck you mean by that!!!" Yuffie didn't wake up. He sighed.

I should of known better, she's probably too tired from doing whatever she did.

He looked at her sleeping form and smiled to himself.

Damn. I'm lucky to have an angel for a girlfriend.

Reno then picked her up and started to walk back to the city. He didn't have much time left until the others decided to leave...


"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE LITTLE SHIT IS GONE?!!!"

Elena winced as Cid yelled at her and Rude. She hated being yelled at, especially when nothing was even her fault.

"He just needed some time alone." Rude said. "Let him be for a while, a lot has happened in the past couple days. If he wants to come back then he'll find us. He always has a way."

"...That's bullshit." Cid muttered under his breath and then turned to the little girl.

Aeris noticed her and perked up. "Well, who are you, little girl?" she asked.

"Holy."

Aeris nearly fell backwards in shock.

SHE is Holy?!

Reeve had just gotten finished with filling Cloud in on what had happened with the Magus sisters and everything else that had happened on their own little trip. Cloud instantly looked over at the little girl when he heard the name, Holy, being spoken.

"So, this little kid is Holy?" Cloud asked.

"Seems so." Red replied.

Tifa kneeled down to Holy's eye level and smiled. "Hello there. My name is Tifa." she introduced herself.

Holy smiled back. "My name is Holy!" she cheered.

This child is too cute to be powerful...

"What do you think you're alive to do?" Tifa asked.

Cloud came up behind Tifa and tapped her on the shoulder. Tifa looked up at Cloud timidly and he looked at her critically. "Isn't that question a little too in depth for a little kid?" he asked.

Tifa just shrugged.

"I am here to destroy Jenova." Holy replied, her voice hallow and emotionless.

There was a long period of silence.

"This is TERRIBLE!" Aeris said, finally breaking the silence.

They all turned to her. "What do you mean?" Tifa asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Aeris looked over at the brunette worridly. "Of COURSE there's something wrong!!! There is something terribly wrong!" she extended her arm and pointed down at Holy, who just cocked her head to the side curiously. "THIS is what all of those shooter movies are doing to kids!"

Cid scratched the back of his head. "Aiee... If that's what ya think." he replied after another long moment of silence, breathing out smoke.

Holy just looked at Aeris, confused. "Shoo...ter...moo..vies?" she asked. "What are...shooter moovies, Aeris?"

Vincent just sighed. "Nevermind, Holy." he replied for Aeris, and then looked over to Tifa.

Cloud looked over at her, too. "How is she going to destroy Jenova?" he asked. Tifa just shrugged and looked down at Holy. She stared back at her as if she didn't understand the question, and in turn Tifa sighed, too.

Looking over at Red, she then asked him, "Do you know how Holy, exactly, is going to destroy Jenova?"

Red's good eye flickered with mirth and he cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "I have heard a legend about a wish of the planet's that came to life."

"A wish of the planet's?" Reeve asked.

Red nodded in agreement. "Yes. You see..." Red then pounced off of his perch on one of the seats and padded his way over to Holy. "Whenever you use a materia you call to the planet. All that materia is are little orbs...like a telephone, as you would call it. Every time you use a materia, what you're really, mentally, doing is wishing for the spell to work. And by that the planet grants your wish."

"So, basically what you're saying is that we could wish ANYTHING to happen through ANY materia and if it was good enough then the planet would grant it?" Elena asked.

Red snickered. "Not exactly." he replied. "When Aeris wished for Holy to come the first time---"

"That's me!" Holy chimed in.

"...The planet only granted her wish because it was its final hope. And the white materia is special, because it can teleport any wishes granted from the Cetra that is holding it to the planet with ease. But, the planet can decline the wish, so be careful. Also, regular materia, like summons, magic, skills, and support materia, are more harder to reach the planet out of their normal skills. Certain materia have certain boundries. Like you can only summon a chocobo with a chocobo/mog materia, or a quadra magic materia only lets you cast four spells and not five or six..." he looked over the rest of the group. "Get it?"

"Damn, man, I get it and all, but hell, it all sounds confusing!" Barret exclaimed. "Awell, it's not like I'm gunna need that information anyways."

"Uhm, Red?" Aeris asked. "What does any of this have to do with Holy?"

"That's me!" Holy chimed again.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about that." Red admitted sheepishly. "The planet, as we all know, is in very great danger at the moment. So, what does it do? Summons Holy, of course. Now, as the legend says, long ago when Jenova first appeared on earth she did some great damage, even blew a whole right on the top of the planet when she first appeared. But before she had landed, there was already an evil there trying to suck the lifestream out of the planet, and she just made things worse. When she landed, she went on an all-out homocidal spree." Red hung his head. "She killed the old evil with one, swift blow, and then opened up the crater even more. Everyone on the planet thought they were done for, doomed. Jenova had been sucking the lifestream energy right out of the planet for six, long years, until she was down to its last power source."

"The Promised Land..." Cloud muttered.

Red nodded to him. "The Promised Land." he confirmed. "But when Jenova got there, the planet had already divised a plan of action. As soon as she stepped foot into the Promised Land..."

"That was when I first opened my eyes!!!" Holy cheered. Everyone else looked at her in disbelief. "There was this eeeevil, tentacled monster!" she spread her arms to emphasize how tall Jenova had appeared then. "She was verrrrry tall, and mean looking! And the planet told me that it was mean and was bullying her around by taking its life energy!" Holy's eyes were brushed slightly with a crimson color. "It made me so mad when I heard this, that I broke free from the cold soil I was embeded in and...and... I..."

Everyone looked at her in fearful, edge-of-their-seat glares.

"I don't remember what happened after that!!!" she cried, holding her head in frustration.

"Lotta good that did." Cid mumbled to himself. Tifa shot him an angry glare and he shut up, but not without saying, "Well it didn't!"

"Well, there was a big explosion" Red said after another moment of silence. "Whatever you did, Holy, it must of been real lethal."

Holy giggled. "I know!" she replied. "Holy was very mad at the Jenova-monster... So Holy kicked their butt, teehee!"

Cloud ruffled Holy's curly hair. "That was a good thing you did." he complemented. "But, do you think you could do it again?" he asked.

She looked up at him with her huge, childish eyes. "Of course!" she replied. "Anything for Miss Planet... She's done so much for me!"

"Miss Planet?" Reeve asked. "I didn't know the planet had a gender..."

"Of COURSE she does!!!" Holy cried. "The planet is a living being, too! She's our mother and you should talk better about her!"

Reeve gulped in suprise at the little girl's outburst. "Y...Yes, ma'am." he replied. Holy just giggled at his formality.

Rude looked around the room and sighed. "Where the hell is he?" he asked himself aloud.

Barret looked over to him, a gleam of hatred in his eyes. "I don't know, and I could care less. We're not waiting for that foo' anyways, so he better get his ass on da plane quick or we're leavin' widout him!" he said dangerously.

He looked over at the big man. Barret was a good couple inches taller then him, but it didn't scare him one bit. He had learned thus far in his years of being a turk that size never mattered, just the strength. He knew that Barret was a very strong man, but he also knew that the others would never let Barret attack him unless he did something very bad.

He wasn't planning on to, at least.

Vincent turned to face Cloud. Cloud nodded in return, his expirience with the ex-turk telling him exactly what he needed to know. "We're going to the moon." he said.

At the moment Cid was in the middle of inhaling a puff of smoke and literally gagged and choked on it. "The...the MOON?!!!" he exclaimed.

Cloud nodded. "That's where Jenova is." he replied.

"Why the fuck is that little shit on the MOON?!" Cid asked horridly. "What's the moon gotta do with any of this!?"

"The moon and the planet have a relationship...A connection." Cloud explained. "So she probably figured that if she drew the moon's lifestream energy then it would also connect to the planet's lifestream energy and drag it away with its own."

"So it's kinda like two birds with one stone?" Tifa asked.

"Hmm?" Holy asked herself as she noticed the crack in the door to the engine room.

"Yeah." Cloud replied. He turned to Aeris. "Is it true that the planet and the moon are connected?" he asked.

Aeris nodded. "That's why they rotate with each other. They have some sort of bond or something." she replied.

Holy silently crept out of the view of the others and towards the door.

"Isn't that called gravity?" Barret asked.

She slipped through the door so silently that not even Vincent noticed she was gone.

Aeris looked at him curiously. "Yeah, I guess that's what you could also call it." she replied matter-of-factly.

Cid chuckled. "Well, then!" he declared, turning to the others. "To the moon!"


Karasu sat on the edge of the platform, looking at the noisy engine below, noting all of its movements and admiring how it just kept on working and doing what its boss told it to do without a care in the world.

I wish I were like that...

Hurridly, he jammed his dirty, scarred hands into his pocket and ripped out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As he held one up to light it, the slight change in lighting behind him almost made him jump. Then, a little girl with dirty blonde hair in a tattered dress sat down on the edge beside him, looking at Karasu with big, innocent eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked grouchily.

Holy looked at him with suprise as he put the cigarette to his lips and quickly batted it out of his grip. They both watched as the cigarette fell silently to the engine below.

Karasu glared at her. "What the hell did you do that for?!" he exclaimed.

"Smoking is bad." Holy replied. "It hurts the planet."

Karasu raised an eyebrow at her. "Why the hell would it hurt the planet? It just hurts me, not the planet." he shot back.

Holy looked at him as if he had a third arm. "The planet feels your pain!" she said desperately, looking him straight into his eyes. "Don't you know?!"

Karasu just looked at her like she was crazy. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Holy." she simply replied.

"What are you, some sort of fucked up tree hugger?"

Holy just shrugged. Apparently she didn't know what Karasu's vocabulary meant.

Karasu sighed. Here, this kid had gone out of her way just to talk to him! What the hell was wrong with him? Wasn't he supposed to be a nice guy?

"What the hell is UP with me lately?!" he thought to himself aloud.

Holy giggled. "I don't know, but whatever it is...." Karasu glared over at her. Her smile just grew brighter, still. "Karasu-kun must have his heart fixed!"

"How do you know it has something to do with my heart?" he asked, suprised that he was actually having an intellectual conversation with a little kid. And a girl, at that. He was never really good with girls.

She shrugged. "Because...You're sad!" she finally replied. "Karasu-kun is sad in the kind of way to be said if Karasu-kun lost something!!!" she took hold of both os his arms and looked up at him and into his eyes desperately. "Karasu-kun! Listen to Holy! Let Holy help you, please?"

Karasu just looked back at her, unsure of what to say.

"Let Holy help Karasu-kun be the way Karasu-kun was once before!"

He sighed again and looked down at the ground, removing his hands from Holy's grip and sagging his shoulders heavily. For a long time there was silence, and the tension between the two grew and grew until Holy couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned closer to him, trying to grab his attention, but his gaze wasn't altered the least bit.

Finally, he spoke.

"You can't help me, kid." he replied darkly. "Nobody can help me now. I'm just a dumbass stuck on this world just waiting to rot. There's no hope for a creep like me."

Holy gasped and took hold of his arm again, shaking him violently. "That's not true, that can't be true! Karasu-kun no die! Holy doesn't want Karasu-kun dieeee!!!!"

After her violent shake, Karasu looked over to her trying his best not to release even the slightest bit of emotion. He had to admit, the kid was adorable. "What can you do, then, might I ask?" he questioned.

Holy smiled. "Holy thought Karasu-kun would never ask!" she replied. "All that Karasu-kun has to do is think about the person who left him!" she said, grabbing hold of his arm again. "Holy will feel Karasu-kun's lifestream energy and Holy will heal!!!"

Karasu's stone cold face finally broke into a smile. "You really think you could do such a thing? Heal me?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Mmmmhmm!!!"

"Okay..." he replied, and then closed his eyes and thought...


The sky shone above, the starts scattered and bright, the moon ruling over all of the beings on the earth. It was clear, and it was perfect. A nice, warm, summer breeze flew past Karasu as he stood outside of the old, wutain styled inn, his cape flowing with it behind him. He sighed in dismay and took it off, sitting down on the porch.

"Damn, I'm bored." he thought aloud. "Maybe I should go see if Rufus is up to anything funny..."

"Well, I'm not, so shove it birdboy."

Karasu swirled around and in a liquid like motion was in front of Rufus in the next second. Rufus' eyes widened, but then suddenly darkened. "Why are you always so against me, anyhow?" he asked.

"You're from Shinra." Karasu simply replied, turning the other way. "How the hell can I trust a slime like you?"

"Heh."

He turned back to Rufus. "'Heh'? What's so 'heh'?" he asked, feeling insulted.

Rufus leaned against a support board, mocking Reno, and crossed his arms. "It's just funny..The way you're so...naiive." he answered casually.

"Naiive about what?!" Karasu quickly asked.

They had known each other for only a week or so, but Karasu had already grown feelings for the President. There was just something about him. There just had to be something there!

"Get the hell out of my way." Rufus muttered, shoving Karasu out of the way and heading for the hot springs nearby.

Karasu just smirked.

He wasn't sure if it was either friendship or hatred, but it was something. There had to be! He was actually happy being around Rufus...And something like that was totally rare for him. He wasn't really the social type.

Rufus blushed inwardly to himself as he shoved Karasu to the side. He hadn't meant to shove him too hard, but he did stumble, and that made him feel bad for some odd, queasy reason. He wasn't even his type!

So Rufus stopped in midstep. Nobody had moved for a long and dull moment.

Finally, he turned to Karasu. "So...sorry." he finally appologized. Karasu looked at him as if he were insane, which made him add quickly, "I was hoping you'd fly right into the wall!!!" and with that he turned tail and ran, leaving poor Karasu standing there, flabberghasted.

"I think he likes ya."

Karasu turned around to come face to face with his twin sister, Yuffie Kisaragi. Immediantly he blushed. "But he's a guy..." he stammered. "That's...I mean.."

Yuffie just laughed at his futility. "You know that I know that you're straight, Karasu-kun!" she giggled. "Face it, you like other guys!" a small hint of mirth, which she had picked up from Reno, gleamed in her eyes.

His face turned a deeper shade of red as he looked down at the ground shyly. Then, a sudden, sad feeling weaved itself into his heart and stabbed him inwardly. There was no way he was ever going to be able to tell Rufus, and he knew that. It was just too hard...

"What's wrong?" Yuffie's small voice asked, breaking his trance.

"He'll never know." Karasu answered, turning to her.

Yuffie's face fell when she noticed the sad tilting of his eyes and looked him straight in the eyes, almost confrotingly. "Aw, common." she began. "Don't get all soft with me, bro." her smile brightened. "Tell him!"

"But..I can't possibly..." Karasu shot back.

"Common!! Tell him!" Yuffie persisted in a whining, prodding tone.

Karasu sighed. "Yuffie, you don't know how hard it is. Unlike you and Reno, who were meant to be together by nature and all, it's harder for a guy to ask another guy out..." he sulked sadly, his shoulders bearing the burden of his years of solitude. "It's just not as easy as you think it is. I mean, what if he's not..." he trailed off.

Yuffie burst out laughing as if there were no tomorrow.

Karasu looked at his sister, raising an eyebrow, an expression plastered on his face as if she was the craziest person he'd ever met. "What's so funny?!" he exclaimed. "Why are you laughing at me???"

Whiping her tears away, Yuffie looked back at him, grinning. "You really -are- naiive." she said. "Didn't you see Rufus earlier? He was checking out Reno for chrissakes!!!"

"How do you know that? And how does that help me?"

She smirked. "I can just tell, okay? And that means that he's not straight either. I mean, it's pretty obvious." she answered.

There was a long pause and Karasu pondered this newly found information.

Finally, he nodded to her. "Okay, if you say so, sis." he replied, then walked past her and patted Yuffie on the shoulder. "But if your wrong, it's your head that'll be rolling." he concluded jokingly, and walked around the corner after Rufus.

"I hope not." Yuffie squeaked.


Karasu slowly opened his eyes, only to meet with Holy's innocent gaze. She was so close to him, so close that it made him seem a little uncomfortable.

Shaking her head, Holy snapped herself out of her trance and smiled wildly at Karasu. "Is that all?" she asked.

This made Karasu a tad pissed off. "What do you mean!?" he yelled at her. "He was practically everything to me, damnit!" Holy backed up, scared. When Karasu noticed this, he stopped and looked at her more warmly. "S...Sorry..." he appologized.

Holy giggled. "Karasu-kun want a pet Impy?" she asked.

Karasu raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want an Imp? Surely you don't think it could take Rufus' place..." he began, but Holy put a finger to his lips.

"Karasu-kun, you're funny!" she snickered. "Holy give Karasu-kun an Imp and Karasu-kun will like it, understand?!"

He nodded back slowly, then smiled to himself. He should be greatful. This kid was trying to cheer him up, so why not give her a chance?

Holy kneeled down onto the floor and cupped her hands, whispering a spell. Karasu looked at the little girl curiously, unsure of what he should do. Should a girl so young be learning witchcraft? He heard it wasn't healthy.

His eyes widened suddenly as he noticed what she was saying.

"Please, Planet, please..." she mumbled. "Please grant my plea. Please make Karasu-kun an Imp so he should not be sad anymore..." she paused for a moment. "Karasu-kun deserves some happiness, too, Planet..." she smiled to herself. "Please help me, Planet. Please help him, Planet..." she trailed off.

There was a long pause of anticipation before she got up to her feet again, the same, wild grin plastered on her face. She almost looked like Yuffie, which made Karasu smile to himself. Holy then pranced over to Karasu and grabbed his hand. "Come, come!" she prodded. "Holy will now show Karasu-kun his new friend!"

"W...wait--" Karasu was cut off when Holy started to drag him towards the dock. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Taking Karasu-kun to his new friend, of course!" Holy yelled back as soon as they ran out onto the dock, the howling wind making it almost impossible for Karasu to understand her.

Then, all of the sudden, Holy stopped and looked over the railing in awe. Karasu came up to her side and tugged on her shoulder. "Maybe we should go...You could fall off the edge." he pointed out. Something, then, caught his eye and he gasped, looking down at the earth below.

"MOTHER PLANET!!!" Holy cried desperately. "SOMETHING'S HURTING HER!!!" she turned to Karasu and dug her head into his chest, crying. "Mama..." she sobbed.

Suprised, all Karasu could do was soothe the poor girl. He was never really good with kids, but it was the only thing he could do. But his eyes were still fixed on the planet below...


"Fuck..." Reno swore. "They left without us..."

A gentle stir from the bundle in his arms made his attention turn to Yuffie. He had been carrying her for the past half hour due to her sleeping state. Not that it was much of a bother to him, at any rate, he practically enjoyed holding her.

"What's wrong...?" she mumbled sleepily.

He smirked. "Go back to sleep, darling." he cooed jokingly.

"Shaddup." Yuffie replied. "What the hell is going on?"

"Your little friends left without saying goodbye." he answered, looking up in the sky at the Highwind. Yuffie grunted in reply. "Look up if you don't believe me." he challenged.

Yuffie did. "Heeey!!" she yelled, seemingly up at them, now fully awake. "That's not fair!!!" she struggled to get out of Reno's grip, but he held her tight. "Lemme go, damnit, I gotta catch up with them!" she protested.

"No omnichanging today, babe." Reno stated, looking her seriously in the eye. "Especially after our previous little incident."

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him. "Asshole." she muttered. Reno just snickered. "Now what do we do?" she asked in a more whiney, childish tone.

A perverted twinkle in his eyes made Yuffie protest again.

"Grossness!" she whined.

Reno held her closer, almost cuddling. "We've done it before..." he whispered in her ear.

Yuffie's face turned totally red, her cheeks turning hot. "But...But we have more important things to do now, damnit!" she squeaked, squirming in his grip childishly. A little speck of aquamarinish liquid that had splashed onto her shoulder alerted her and she looked at it. "Oh my gawd, it's cold!!"

Reno inspected her shoulder more closely. "That's fucked..." he mused. "Isn't that part of the lifestream?" he asked.

Yuffie's eyes widened suddenly when she noticed something forming upwards behind Reno. Stammering, she pointed to it and he just gave her a questioning look. "R..R...Reno..." she began, but, getting the picture he turned around.

In front of them both they saw a long, narrow, stringy stream of the lifestream raising upwards from the earth. They also noticed a few other spots around them forming upwards too, breaking out of the earth like it was an egg.

Reno held her closer, still. "We need to get out of her." he stated.

Yuffie nodded, shakily. "I don't wanna go back, Reno..." she pleaded. "Please don't let me go back...please.." she suprisingly found herself choking in sobbing fits. "I wanna be with you..."

He nodded. "In order to get out of here, I'll need you to omnichange and carry us both up to the Highwind." he said.

Her eyes grew with innocence. "But I thought you said..." she trailed off as Reno put a finger to her lips.

"Just do it." he replied.

Yuffie nodded in confirmation. "Okay! I'll do my best, Reno!" she cheered, a smile shakily forming on her face. She then sagged her head in concentration, her eyes narrowed and glowing. Reno gently set her down and stepped aside, looking around carefully at the streams around them. They were getting bigger, and he wasn't sure how much time they had before it was too late. He looked back over to her, and she had already grown her wings, her scales starting to settle into her patterned skin.

Reno walked over to her and picked her up again, and before he knew it her claws had shot out and her transformation was complete. "Reno, ya ready?" her voice echoed. Reno nodded, his trademark smirk on his face again. Yuffie smiled back. "Let's go!" and with that, she swooped her wings and lifted both of them off the ground with ease.

Right when they were about twenty feet up in the air, a stream of lifestream swarmed right into their path, and Yuffie quickly dodged out of the way sharply, causing Reno to slip. "Hold on tight!" she warned. "I don't think this is going to be as easy as we thought it was."

He nodded, and renewed his grip, tighter then ever. Something caught his eye, and noticed it was an individual blob of the lifestream comming right at them at lightning speed. "Yuff!!" he shouted. "Behind you!!"

Yuffie quickly dived to the right, but they were too late, and it hit Yuffie right in the side, hard, sending both of them sprawling through the air. Yuffie quickly regained herself, and, even with the pressure on her side as Reno clinged to her tightly, found the strength to spread her wings again and flapped weakily upwards.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." she muttered.

"Of course it was a good idea." Reno snapped back, wincing as they dodged another part of the lifestream. "Even if it wasn't we're going to get through this, and you wanna know why?" he asked.

"Why?"

"Because no matter what happens we'll still be together." he replied.

Yuffie sighed. "Ugh, damnit Reno. It's not like you to get emotional." she muttered. "You're starting to scare me!"

Reno smirked. "That's my job." he shot back, snickering. Then, something started to climb up Reno's leg. "What the f..." he trailed off when he saw what it was.

"What's wrong, Reno?" Yuffie asked.

A little, purple, fuzzy monster had crawled up onto his shoulder and clung to his shirt. "Can I come along?" it squeaked.

Reno looked over to it. "This ain't a free flight, Impy." he countered. "Get your own omnichanging ninja chick."

Yuffie grumbled in distaste at the pet name.

"Just cuz you don't work for me any more doesn't mean you hafta to be so rude, Reno."

Reno's and Yuffie's eyes widened.

"RUFUS?!" they both asked in astonishment.

"The one and only." he replied confidently. "Though...I don't know why I'm so little. Something like...called me up or something. I dunno."

Reno sighed as they dodged another one. "Just hold on and we'll get you to the Highwind in no time. Then we can ask that stupid spikey headed ass what the hell's going on." he grumbled.

Rufus nodded. "Okay, whatever."


"Hey, Holy?" Karasu asked. She looked up at him, teary eyed. "What's that?" he pointed out a small object heading towards them.

Her face brightened up and turned to look. Then, her eyes changed to a curious look. "I have no idea..." she answered.

They watched as it got nearer, and Karasu brightened up himself when he noticed who it was. It was Yuffie!! And Reno! And...

"Who the hell.." he trailed off.

"Impy!" Holy cheered happily. "Planet did care, yes she did!"

Yuffie came flying up to the dock and landed gracefully. Then she stumbled and fell over. "Owww..." she winced.

"Ow is right, damnit..." Reno grunted. "Get offa me."

Yuffie squirmed, but she couldn't find the strength to get up. Instead the result she got was the loss of her wings, claws and scales. Too tired, she plopped back down, practically half asleep. "Too tired..." she muttered.

The little imp jumped out of the pile and into Karasu's arms, snuggling against him, purring. Karasu's eyes widened in suprise as he looked at it dumbfoundedly. "What the hell are you?" he asked.

"I'm an imp." Rufus shot.

"And a cool imp, at that!" Holy giggled, scratching its head, making Rufus' eyes turn into sleepy slits. "Karasu, this is the impy I asked for Planet to make you!"

Rufus' eyes opened widely. "Whoa, wait a minute. Make?" he asked.

Karasu looked at the imp directly in the eyes. As he did, a big smile had formed on his face at the knowledge he had just regained.

"RUFUS!!!" he cried, hugging the imp even tighter.

"OW...." Rufus cringed. "Uh, Karasu? Rufus can't breath..."

Holy giggled at the cuteness of the scene. This was the first time she had ever seen Karasu so happy in the past half hour that she had known him. Then, her attention turned to the squabbling couple to the left.

"The least you could do is roll to the side!"

"Neh...Sleepy..."

"Yuuuuffieeeee..."

"Zuzuzuzuzuzuzu..."

"Wake up, damnit!!!"

"Naw..."

"Ugh."



Chuu: I LIVE!!!! Oh my gawd, the middle part of this chapter, where Red had to explain everything, was SO boring to type! That's why it took so long ;_; Sorry, minna-san. The rest of the story should be over pretty quick, cuz we're getting up to the non-stop action chapters! And it should be very fun to write, too, so I'll try to get it done by the end of the year(yeah, bet ya head that before XP) Just another one of my aimless goals. Also, sorry about the notice on the last chapter. I was a little down in the dumps vv; Well, review if you wanna! I don't mind, but I'd really like to hear from anyone who's read it (whether good or bad, I could care less!) Ciow~!