Barret, Marlene seated wearily on his gun arm, plodded slowly into North Corel, weighed down both in mood and with the things Elmyra had given he and Marlene to help them start up again. Where she had received so many extra odds and ends, he had no idea, but he was grateful to her. He was fairly sure no one in his old village would be willing to help him with anything.

The place looked almost exactly as he remembered it: dusty, depressing, and littered with ramshakle shelters. With a heavy sigh he placed Marlene gently on the ground and dropped the luggage he'd been carrying. Marlene rubbed her eyes with tiny fists and looked around the ruins that once had been Barret's home town. "Where are we, Daddy?"

"This's our new home, sweetheart," Barret told her. Not that that was anything to cheer about. This was a dead town that even the threat of Sephiroth and meteor hadn't been able to bring back to fearful life. It was as if its inhabitants had lost the will to do anything.

Barret took a few steps toward a man seated on the ground and tending a small, dying fire. He was thin and dressed in rags, and his eyes were sunken in a face unshaven and creased as if he had always been squinting into the sun. He glanced up only once before looking away. "Yeah?"

"D'ya know if there're any places fer sale here that me an' my daughter could move into?"

The man looked up again, incredulous and almost giving an absurb smile. "You wanna live here?" Suddenly he broke into dry, wheezing laughter.

Barret sighed. "Yeah, I wanna live here. Can ya help me or not?"

The man stopped laughing, but his eyes were dancing with a cruel kind of mirth, probably the only kind of mirth anyone experienced here. "Ask the mayor if you're in such a damn hurry. He's in the house over there." He gestured with the stick in his hand to a shack on a small rise of land.

"Thanks," Barret said gruffly and gestured for Marlene to follow him. She ignored him, staring up into the sky.

"C'mon Marlene, time to move."

Marlene glanced at him distractedly. "But Daddy, look at the bird." She pointed over her head. Barret followed her finger, squinting.

It wasn't like any bird he'd ever seen. Too big and too clumsy, and definitely too humanoid. Some kind of freak monster, and it looked like it had been through a meat grinder. In most cases Barret wouldn't have given it more than a few moments' attention, but the thing was headed straight for North Corel. Startled by its bravado, Barret continued watching, almost unbelieving, until it had nearly touched down. With a curse, he gathered up his things and hurried over toward Marlene. She was standing where he'd left her, dumb with timid curiousity.

The man by the fire had taken off only moments before Barret, and now the creature was following him, sniffing the air with apparent interest. Hoping to get out of range in case the thing turned around, Barret began to usher a wide-eyed Marlene away from the scene, but it wasn't soon enough. As if it was being led by a sixth sense, the monster swung to face them, its tongue darting out rapidly through its teeth. Barret wrinkled his nose at the smell of the caking, black blood that covered its shoulder and most of its torso.

"C'mon Marlene, behind me!" he hissed, readying the Missing Score, suddenly glad that he'd followed his instincts and loaded it the night before. Bracing his legs, he opened fire on the monster. In a few moments, most of the people of North Corel had come out of their houses to see what all the noise was about.

The creature stumbled as the bullets hit, but took less time than Barret had anticipated to recover from the initial shock of the attack and, snarling, it advanced on him with more speed than something that injured should have been able to. With a curse, Barret jumped aside and rolled to one knee, hoping to draw it away from Marlene.

But the creature seemed to have lost interest in attacking him. Whuffing noisily through its nose, it started toward Marlene. She stood paralyzed in mute terror, jaw slack as she stared up at it.

Barret swore loudly. "Run, Marlene! RUN!!" He readied his weapon, but didn't fire, not trusting his aim enough to risk the life of his daughter.

Marlene didn't seem to hear him at first, but as the monster took another step toward her she gave a piercing scream. Belatedly she turned and tried to run, but the creature was faster. With hardly an effort, it reached down and picked her up in one arm.

Barret gave a hoarse cry and bolted to his feet. "Leave 'er alone! Come 'n get me!"

The monster ignored him and put Marlene under its arm. She gave one more shriek before fainting, her body going suddenly limp. Barret swore explosively as the creature crouched muscled legs and propelled itself into the air. Lifting the Missing Score, Barret followed its course, searching frantically for a clear shot as it opened its huge wings to an air current and started to glide away, but there was nothing he could do from where he was standing. Hastily he stumbled a step or two to the right and aimed again, but by then the monster was too high. A drop from there would certainly kill Marlene. With a frustrated sob, Barret lowered his gun arm and watched as the small girl who had been his only reason for living since his wife's death was taken from him to who knew what fate.




When Syra woke the next morning, Vincent woke with her and, at her insistance, helped her back into her dress. He would not, however, carry her down the stairs. That she had to do on her own if she wanted any breakfast. Syra sulked at first, but when Vincent started down without her she scurried after him, not willing to be left behind.

They were greeted in the kitchen by Aeris and Elmyra, who were both dressed and groomed as if they had been up for hours, and Cloud who was nursing a cup of coffee and looking like he'd just rolled off of the couch. Vincent declined the offer of pancakes, but Syra dug in enthusiastically as if she hadn't eaten in years. Elmyra clucked over her sympathetically. "Poor thing, I wonder when she last had a proper meal."

Cloud watched her for a moment or two before downing the rest of his coffee. "Well, I should probably go and get Tifa."

Aeris glanced at him. "Isn't it still a little early?"

Cloud shrugged. "The earlier the better. I, for one, would like to find out if this is anything we have to get excited about." He stood and, after stepping into his boots, left the house.

In a couple of minutes he returned with Tifa at his back. She'd obviously been up and waiting for him. Both of them were smiling at some piece of conversation they'd been having, but their expressions turned sober again as they entered the kitchen and remembered what situation they might be facing. As they sat down at the table, Cait came in from the living room where he'd shut down for the night.

"Well, now that we're all here," Cloud began, "maybe we can get some answers. Syra?"

The girl glanced up from her plate and swallowed a bite of pancake. For a few moments she'd been unguarded, occupied with eating, but as she met Cloud's gaze the wary, frightened look came back into her eyes.

"Syra, we need to know where you came from."

She regarded him with sudden suspicion. "You won't take me back," she stated quietly as if she was unsure whether or not it was the truth.

"No, we won't. I promise. We just need to know so that we can stop the man who hurt you from hurting others."

Syra stared at him a second longer before glancing over her shoulder at Vincent who was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed over his abdomen. He stepped forward. "It's all right, Syra. Answer him."

Syra turned back to the table. "Shinra," she said clearly.

The sudden stillness in the room was almost palapable. Tifa was the first to stir. "Shinra?" she muttered.

"You came from Shinra?" Cloud asked.

She hesitated and then nodded slowly. "Shinra."

"You mean the Shinra Building?" Cait wondered.

Syra didn't answer. It became apparent after a few moments that 'Shinra' meant nothing to her beyond that she had probably heard over and over again. But at least it was a location. A frown began to form on Cloud's face. He stood from his chair and beckoned to the others in the room. "Mrs. Gainsborough, would you mind taking care of Syra for a few minutes? We just need to talk something over."

"Of course." She fetched another plate of pancakes to keep the girl busy while the others went into the living room.

Cloud sat on the couch and motioned for the others to make themselves comfortable.

"Could she really have come from the Shinra Building?" Aeris wondered, lowering herself onto the mattress Vincent had used as a bed. "Could Hojo have been keeping her there?"

"I suppose so," Cloud replied, "but Hojo must've taken her away before the building fell. No one could've survived that."

"Maybe she escaped while we were fighting him," Tifa said, thinking aloud. "And now he's trying to get her back."

"Do you think he's done something to her then?" Aeris asked, suddenly whispering. "Something he didn't finish?"

There was silence for a moment until Vincent spoke. "Does that matter?"

The others looked at him and Aeris had the grace to flush a little.

"No, it doesn't matter," Cloud answered solidly. "We wouldn't abandon her now. What we should do is get ahold of Reeve and ask if he's heard any rumours."

The others were just nodding their agreement when Elmyra gave a small cry from the kitchen. Quickly, they all stood and headed back.

Elmyra was huddled over Syra on her chair with a cloth in her hand. "Oh-oh, here honey, let me see. Let me see."

"What happened?" Aeris asked.

Elmyra looked up and they could see Syra behind her with a finger in her mouth. "Just a little cut with a knife," the older woman said. "Nothing to worry about." She turned back to the girl. "Let me see, Syra. I just want to clean it."

Syra freed her finger and held it up for Elmyra to see. Elmyra hesitated. "No, sweetie, the one you cut."

Syra kept holding out the same finger. Elmyra took the girl's hand and examined it. "Where'd the cut go?" she asked.

Aeris stepped forward. "Are you sure she cut herself?"

Elmyra stood up. "Yes, here's the knife. There's still a little blood on it."

Aeris took the knife from her and looked at it closely. There was, indeed, a red tinge on the sharp edge. She turned back to Syra. "Did you cut yourself?" she asked.

Syra held up her whole finger for Aeris to see. Aeris gave a small frown. "Syra, there's no cut there."

Syra seemed nonplused by this observation. "It's healed already."

Elmyra gave a startled chuckle. "How is that possible?"

Cloud cleared his throat. "It's possible if she has Jenova cells in her."

There was another sudden silence in the room. Syra glanced around at them. "Jenova," she said clearly as if she was familiar with the word.

Just then, a ring from Cloud's PHS made everyone jump. Flustered, he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Cloud here." After a moment he frowned. "Barret? I can't...wait, I can't understand..." His expression fell into one of dismayed horror, but it was quickly replaced with a leadership grimace they all recognized. "All right, calm down. There's nothing we can do from here. I'm going to call Cid and see how repairs on the Highwind are comimg. We'll be there as soon as we can. Hold tight, Barret." He hung up and looked at the sober, expectant faces around him.

"That was Barret," he said unnecessarily. "Marlene's been taken by that creature."




The Highwind wasn't in peak condition, but it worked well enough to get Cid and Red both to Kalm. Soon, they were gathered with the others in Elmyra's kitchen while Elmyra rushed around with a pot of coffee, filling or refilling mugs as needed.

"So, you're telling us that that son of a bitch Hojo is still alive by some miracle and that the monster we fought is one of his newest twisted experiments?" Cid said, taking a swig of his coffee.

Cloud nodded. "Basically."

"And this child, Syra, is also one of his experiments?" Red asked from where he sat on the floor.

"We think so. She cut herself earlier and the wound healed within seconds."

"And the monster was sent out to find her?"

"Yes," Vincent answered, and the others looked to the corner of the room where he was standing. "When she appeared, it lost all interest in fighting me and began to pursue her. I don't imagine that anything but a direct order could have changed its priorities so quickly." By this time, Syra had finished her breakfast and had retreated to a spot beside him where she could sit and grab onto a crease in his pants. She didn't seem too interested in the coversation going on above her, but she glanced up with the others as Vincent spoke.

"But, this still doesn't explain why the monster would be interested Marlene," Red observed after a moment.

"It might," Aeris said. "If this monster is anything like the monsters we fought before, one human probably looks quite like another. If Hojo sent it out to find the girl, is it really that hard to believe that it might make a mistake and bring him the wrong girl?"

Cid shrugged and took another sip of his coffee. "So, does Barret know any of this?"

"Yes, I called him," Cloud told him. "He's still worried, of course. Having her in Hojo's hands is no better than having her in those of that monster."

Everyone agreed silently with this.

"So, what do we do now?" Red asked.

"Now," Cloud said, "I call Reeve to see if he knows anything, and then we head to Wutai."

Cid halted with his coffee cup half-way to his mouth. "Oh god, don't tell me..."

Cait grinnned from atop his moogle. "What, you wanna face Hojo again without any materia?"

Cid hung his head with a gruff sigh. "You know, I just got that vomit smell out of the hold."




Reeve was busy drowing in paperwork when his PHS rang. It took him a good twenty seconds to recognize the sound of the mechanical box Cloud had had delivered to him not even a week ago, and another thirty to locate it under a pile of statements that needed his approval. Shoving some errant bangs out of his face, he answered it. "Reeve here."

"Hey, Reeve. It's been awhile. How is everything?"

Reeve sighed and sat back, glad for an excuse to take a small break. "Oh, busy, as usual. The president left this place in a financial mess and I'm still trying to pay back his creditors. And people are still treating me like I've taken over from Rufus. I can't wait until the elections, and then we can get some representatives in each sector."

"Sounds rough."

"Yeah, well, I didn't take this job on because it would be easy. It just had to be done. So, how's everything with you? I haven't heard from anyone but Cait since everyone left Cosmo Canyon."

There was a pause on the other end. "Well, actually, things aren't so good."

Reeve sat up. "Why, what's happened?"

"We've got some cause to believe that Hojo, or a Hojo-wanna-be, is up to his old mischief. Have you heard anything?"

"Hojo?" Reeve frowned. "No, I haven't heard anything about him. Why?"

"Well..." Another pause. "Vincent ran across a girl, maybe five years old, with a tattoo on her arm and a mutated monster on her tail. And Vincent's positive the tattoo is one of Hojo's make."

"Ooh." He grimaced. "That's not so good."

"You're telling us. On top of that, the monster mistook Marlene for the girl Vincent found and has taken her to Hojo."

"Oh god! How's Barret?"

"Well, he's taking it hard, as you can probably guess. Are you sure you haven't heard anything? Even a rumour?"

Reeve hesitated a moment, thinking. Had he heard anything? Something about this was tugging at his memory. "Wait, maybe I have. It's nothing concrete, but maybe it'll give you something to start with."

"Go on."

"When Cait went back to the Saucer, Dio came up to him and asked him a question about Hojo, whether we'd killed a scientist from Shinra by that name. It was an odd question, but Dio wouldn't say anything else when Cait asked. Maybe he knows something."

There was a pause and Reeve could barely hear Cloud asking Cait why he hadn't mentioned this. "I didn't think it was important!" the small cat wailed in the background. Reeve smiled, the first smile he'd had cause to have in a few days.

Cloud came back on. "Okay, thanks Reeve. We're going to pick up Barret and head to the Gold Saucer. Do you want us to keep you updated?"

"Yes, sure." Maybe he hadn't been an 'official' part of Avalanche, but he considered himself a kind of silent partner.

"All right. Talk to you again when we find something."

"Okay. And tell Barret I'm sorry and I hope things work out."

"Will do."

Reeve hung up the PHS and put it back onto his cluttered desk with a worried sigh. Hojo back? Was it possible? He remembered seeing the greasy scientist, the one he'd brushed shoulders with more times than he cared to recall, in his mutated form through Cait's eyes and the memory made him shiver. Something about the man had always made him want to wrinkle his nose, as if he gave off a foul odour. Yes, definitely, the world would've been a better place without a Hojo in it. And despite the fact that he was a card-carrying atheist, Reeve wanted to pray to God that that simpering demon in spectacles and a too big lab coat hadn't returned in any form.




Barret was waiting for them just outside of North Corel, practically jumping from one foot to the other in his impatience. Still clumsy with the rope ladder to the Highwind, he made the climb in record time and started demanding that they get going, pointing in the direction the creature had flown. Cid ground the butt of his cigarette against the railing and pulled another from his goggles.

"Sorry, man. Cloud's 'got a plan'. We're going to Wutai."

"Shit! What for? There ain't no time!"

"Go talk to him about it, there's no use in screaming at me! I'm just the friggin' pilot."

Barret stormed off into the hold and burst through the doors of the cabin. "Why the hell are we goin' to Wutai?" he shouted, startling the rest of the group, most of whom were seated around the table.

"Materia," Cloud said simply. "We need it to confront Hojo."

"&%$# confrontin' Hojo, I just want Marlene back!" Barret protested, but he sat down resignedly at the table next to Tifa. "Just wanna start my life again. Wasn't askin' fer no trouble. Just wanted to start again."

Tifa patted his big shoulder in sympathy as he sagged onto the table. "I know," she said. "None of us wanted this. But I'm sure Hojo won't do any worse than lock her up somewhere safe. She wasn't the one he wanted."

"My poor baby," he moaned. "She's prob'ly so scared."

Tifa continued to pat his shoulder and glanced around at the others with something close to a helpless shrug. What could they do but what they were doing? Going unprepared into the unknown wasn't a good idea under the best of circumstances. They needed all of the help and information they could get before they attempted to rescue Marlene.

Cloud returned Tifa's helpless look for a moment before getting down to business. "First we'll swing by the Gold Saucer to drop Cait off, and then we'll head for Wutai. Cait, I want you to go and talk to Dio again. Ask him about Hojo. Find out what he knows."

"Roger," the little cat said, standing up to his full eleven inches and saluting from atop his moogle. "You won't be disappointed, sir."

"Once we know where Hojo is, assuming Dio can tell us, we'll equip the materia and go find him. I doubt he'll have recognized Marlene as Barret's daughter, so he probably won't be expecting us. We might actually have the upper hand this time." He didn't say what he thought the outcome would be; he knew as well as any of them that this wouldn't be an easy battle considering what Hojo had already lived through. But the speech gave everyone a little optimism, if only because they now had a plan of action. Even Barret lifted his head a little from the table.

Cloud stood. "All right. I'm going to go tell Cid what we're doing. Cait, you come with me."

Vincent left the room a few moments after Cloud and Cait Sith. Syra had stayed behind in Kalm with Mrs. Gainsborough, but Vincent still found himself glancing around as if to find her underfoot, his own knee-high shadow. Maybe he wasn't completely comfortable with his unexpected role as the girl's protector, but in the last day or so he had become sort of used to having her in his arms or holding onto the material of his slacks. Without her there, he found himself wondering how she was doing while he was here.

The stop in Wutai didn't take very long. The tough part, getting the materia out from under Godo's quivering nose, had already been done by his skillful daughter and all the remained was to land outside of the town and wait for her to show up.

Once aboard the Highwind, Yuffie gave the materia to Cloud and took up her usual place in the hold. Queasy already, she closed her eyes as the ship lifted into the air and her stomach dropped away. Repressing a small burp, she groaned. Why had she agreed to submit herself to this again?

Life in Wutai had returned to normal in a surprisingly short amount of time, bringing Yuffie too soon back to the brink of death by boredom. Another adventure seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. If only she could tell her guts that. Fortunately, the ride went fairly smoothly and Yuffie was able to keep herself from vomiting all over the machinery of Cid's ship, despite a few close calls. With a creaking sigh she got to her feet as they landed outside of North Corel and began to head, a little unsteadily, for the briefing room. A noise from behind her, however, made her stop in her tracks.

She knew the sound of someone trying to hide in a crowded storage closet. She had been that someone more than once. Slowly, she turned and tip-toed over to a narrow door in the wall of the hold. Who would want to hide on Cid's stinky old Highwind? Maybe it was rats. Huge rats. This thought made Yuffie hesitate for a second, but then she set her face decisively and flung open the door. No one could call her a coward.

She had one hand on her weapon and the other in a defensive position before she realized that the stowaway was no more than a child. As the door opened, a broom and a mop handle fell out and the tiny girl huddled further into a corner of the closet. Yuffie dropped her hands to her sides in surprise. "Eh, where did you come from?"

The girl didn't move. Yuffie put out a hand to touch her shoulder, but, as if she'd sensed the movement, the girl gave a shriek and pushed out from around Yuffie, nearly knocking her over with the suddeness of her retreat.

"Hey! Hey, wait!" Yuffie shouted after her. The girl darted around, looking for an exit, but there seemed to be walls and obstacles everywhere. After a few moments, she just stopped, panting and glancing around. Yuffie took this opportunity to approach her, but before she'd taken three steps the girl whirled around to face her. Her eyes were wide and afraid, but something about them made Yuffie wonder if the girl even saw her.

"Go away!" she shouted suddenly, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. "Go away! Vincent! Vincent!"

Yuffie halted her pursuit, confused. Was she calling for Vincent? "Who are you?" she wondered aloud.

The girl didn't answer, she just ran again and hid in a corner of the hold. Instead of going after her, Yuffie decided to leave the hold to go find the others. She was just coming up to the door when it opened and Tifa came in.

"Cait's here, Yuffie," she said. "Aren't you coming?"

"Um, yeah, but I think we've got a problem."

"What are you talking about?"

Yuffie pointed into the corner of the room. Tifa gasped. "Oh no! Syra, what are you doing here?" She took a couple of steps toward the trembling girl, but stopped when the child turned eyes on her that were filled with anything but recognition. "Yuffie," she said instead, "will you go and get Vincent?"

"Uh, sure." She spared another glance at the inexplicably frightened girl before exiting the room.

No more than a minute went by before Vincent was striding through the doors and glancing around the hold. At the sudden entrance of another person into the room Syra whipped her head around, but once she saw who it was all of her fear vanished. In a moment, she'd jumped to her feet and started running toward the gunslinger. "Vincent!" she cried out. "Vincent!" Impervious to his frown, she came up and wrapped her arms around one of his legs.

Vincent sighed softly. "Syra, you were going to stay in Kalm."

She shook her head into the material of his pants. "He's gonna find me," she whispered.

"He won't find you in Kalm. You will be safer there. And we will return for you."

Syra's only reply was to grip his knee tighter.

At that moment, Cloud walked in. "What's the hold up here?"

Tifa gestured at their stowaway. "It seems Syra didn't want to be left behind."

"We will have to return her to Kalm," Vincent stated.

Syra glanced up at him and a couple of sudden tears made their way down her cheeks. "No, Vincent!" she protested loudly. "No, no!"

Vincent looked down to meet her eyes. "You will be safer there than you will be with me, Syra. You understand, we are going to Hojo."

She buried her face into his pants. Vincent reached down and gently attempted to detach her, but she fought him for every finger hold until it was evident he wasn't going to give up. With an angry shriek, she released his leg and dashed away, hiding herself in the hold. Vincent gave another long-suffering sigh and followed where she had gone. When he found her, however, huddled behind some crates, she gave another shriek and ran from him, eventually making her way through the doors to the hold as Yuffie entered.

"Whoa, hey!" Yuffie exclaimed, startled, as Syra nearly tripped her and then Vincent brushed her aside. "What's going on?"

Cloud and Tifa had both been ready to take up the pursuit, but Yuffie's appearance seemed to remind them of what they needed to do and they left it up to Vincent to calm the girl down. Cloud ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess we'll have to head back to Kalm. There's no way we can take her with us."

Tifa pursed her lips and nodded. She knew it had to be hard for Syra, so afraid and then abandoned by the one who made her feel the safest, but the truth was that she would be safer with Mrs. Gainsborough. If only Vincent could be convinced to stay with her in Kalm, but then they would be out a fighter, and Vincent was the one, besides Reeve, who probably knew Hojo the best out of all of them; that knowledge could come in handy.

Cloud glanced at her and Tifa couldn't help the feeling that he was looking to her for her opinion. Something inside her jumped at that thought. "Kalm's a little out of the way, but I don't think we have any other choice."

Cloud nodded. "Well, let's head up to the deck. We'll have to let Cid know there's been a change, and we still have to hear what Cait has to say. Hopefully this won't take too long." This last part he muttered and it wasn't clear what he was referring to. Tifa took it to mean both things, the trip to Kalm and this chasing around after rumours of Hojo. She hoped none of it would take too long.




Vincent caught up with Syra on the deck and, scooping her unwilling body up into his arms, turned to Cid, who'd been watching the chase with a bemused smile.

"Don't leave until we've returned."

Cid looked like he wanted to ask what the hell Vincent was talking about, but before he could utter a word the dark clothed man had levitated over the wooden rail of the Highwind and down onto the ground below.

As soon as they left the deck, Syra became still in Vincent's arms, watching the world fly by. As they touched down again on the grass outside of North Corel, however, she resumed her squirming and Vincent let her go, knowing she had nowhere to run to. Angry, she raced a few steps from him, but then turned around to face him.

"I'm not going back," she stated and Vincent wondered initially if she meant back to Kalm or back to Hojo.

"We have to take you back to Kalm, Syra," Vincent told her sternly. "We are going to Hojo and it won't be safe for you with me. It's unlikely that I will be able to protect you all of the time."

She turned from him, sulking. Vincent repressed a frustrated sigh, not really happy with the idea of forcing her to comply. He decided to switch tactics. "How did you get onto the Highwind, Syra?"

It was a moment before she turned to him, still pouting. "Like you did," she said sullenly.

"Like I did?"

"Like this." Without it seeming to cost her any effort, Syra glanced up, as if making sure the path was clear, and raised herself a few feet into the air, until she was eye level with Vincent.

Vincent blinked in surprise, though the revelation of another power from her didn't shock him. Jenova cells were what allowed him to levitate, what had allowed Sephiroth the same ability.

Syra returned to the ground and began sulking again. It was obvious she thought nothing about being able to defy gravity and, like the healing of her cut in Mrs. Gainsborough's kitchen, Vincent wondered if she realized that not everyone had these powers. He almost wanted to question her about it, but there wasn't the time right now. He didn't even have the time to reason with her. He doubted she would willingly give up her position. With a sigh, he stepped toward her. "Syra, I don't want you to follow us again. You need to stay in Kalm until we return for you. It will be safer for you there." He paused. "I promise."

When had been the last time he'd promised anything? Oh, yes, he remembered now... The promise to Lucrecia...

Syra was looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to go back," she told him, her arms falling helplessly to her sides. "He'll find me. Don't...don't leave me there."

Her words stirred some old memories and Vincent felt an ache begin in his chest.

...don't leave me, Vincent...don't let him hurt the baby...promise me...

...I...can't...

...please...

...I promise...

When Vincent didn't reply immediately, Syra seemed to take it to mean that he was reconisidering. Quickly, she ran and grabbed ahold of his leg. "Don't leave me," she repeated.

Vincent looked into her eyes and felt his resolve shake. What would have happened, long ago, if he'd quit listening to his head and had listened to his heart? What if he'd taken her away, taken the baby, protected them instead of turning bitter toward her and doing his duty? Things might've been so different.

"Hey! Hey, Vince!"

Vincent's head snapped up to look at Cid, a far away figure on the deck of the Highwind.

"You comin'?"

Vincent turned back to Syra. "It's time to go," he told her.

"Back?" she asked him.

He hesitated. "No. I won't take you back. But you must stay close to me."

That didn't seem to be a problem with her. She buried her head in his pant leg and held his knee tighter. In a moment, Vincent urged her to let go and she relinquished her hold, doing her best to clamber into his arms. He allowed her to and then levitated back onto the airship where the others were waiting for them.