Chapter 11

Fagtron: Woo-hoo! Sorceress Myst left me in charge! She put an electric helmet on my head in case I mess up or say anything wrong! Sorceress Myst does not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters except for Tarae. Hehehehehe! Now I get to stay during the story! (The helmet electrocutes her) Hey that was fun! I rule! (Zap!) I'm the greatest! (Zap!) I rule! (Zap!)

Somewhere in a coffee shop…

Sorceress Myst: I hope that helmet is keeping Fagtron so entertained that she can't pay attention to the story.

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          Aeris watched the timid couple on the beach. The moonlight gleamed on her features as she surveyed her friends closely. Cloud and Tifa were going nowhere fast. The only cute thing she seen was when Cloud brushed his hand against Tifa's. Soon they were holding hands, but they were still too nervous to talk. The gentle closing of a door alerted her. She looked behind her to find Tarae quietly walking out of Costa del Sol. Aeris eyebrows knitted together in confusion and worry. Why would Tarae leave the town in the middle of the night with no friends and no weapon? She quickly grabbed her staff and followed her. She headed west of the town to a river that separated Costa del Sol lands from Corel lands. Tarae was sitting near the river's edge. Her eyes held a mixture a confusion, hate, and pain. Something Aeris has never seen before from her. She decided to approach her with a cheerful face.

"Hi Tarae! Ummm…Cloud and Tifa's date is going well. They are at least holding hands." Silence only answered her, "What's wrong Tarae?"

"………They knew…" she hissed with hatred, "They knew all along!"

Aeris eyes widened and she stepped back, "What…do you mean?"

"About my mother. They knew! Shinra, Hojo, SOLDIER, everyone! She worked in Shinra under the name of Destine as one of the three female scientists who work with the Turks in crime investigations. All this time, they knew…" her voice grew softer and tears filled her eyes, "You probably know too, Aeris. After all you're friends with my grandmother."

"Actually," she sat down next to her, "She refuses to tell me who your parents are. And I'm sure Rufus doesn't know because she must have been there before either of you were born."

"That doesn't matter!" she cried out. There was blood on her arm. Aeris was now frightened as she realized Tarae was armed after all with a throwing dagger. But what was scarier was the fact that she was emotionally unstable enough to kill. She froze and nearly gasped as at dawned on her, she was acting just like Sephiroth. Tarae faced her for the first time that night, her eyes filled with demonic rage that made Aeris tremble in fear. Tears soon filled her eyes before she looked away and threw the dagger in Aeris's direction. It made contact with the rock next to her which made her sigh in relief.

"…It still doesn't change the fact that she is dead…" Tarae finally muttered after a long silence. Aeris stared at her with a confused expression on her face.

"She is? Why haven't I met her yet? I've called out to her in my sleep." Tarae shrugged, "I dunno. My aunt said she died an hour after I was born. Aunt Roxanna never lied to me." Silence reigned over them again. Aeris was allowed to cure Tarae's arm after a while.

"What about your father?" she finally asked.

"What about him?" Tarae immediately snapped back, making her slightly jump and hesitate from continuing the conversation.

"W-well you said everybody knew your mother…"

"…Only those involved in the Jenova Project know my father."

"Is he still alive?" Tarae snorted in response.

"I guess." Aeris translated that to 'Yes, but I don't know where he is'

"Really?! Who is he?" "Finding her father would make her happier." She thought before Tarae stared at the river that was raging below.

"…a monster…"

"What? Oh! You mean from the Jenova Project? There is a way to cure him you know. If you just-"

"Oh stop it Aeris! There is no cure for that man! People would think I'm a monster too if they knew who my father is. He can rot in hell for all I care!"

"Tarae!!!" That earned Aeris a glare as she continued to scold her, "You have no right to say such a horrible thing about someone you probably don't really know! You're lucky to even know who your parents are. …Orphans usually don't have that kind of luxury." Her voice softened. Tarae let that sink into her thoughts. Rufus's words about his father still rang clearly in her head.

"…It's amazing how alike we are." Aeris looked up at her as she got up, knowing she wasn't talking about her.

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking out loud, sorry. Right now, I'm content with Robin and Mrs. Brentworth around and having you and Tifa as my older sisters. Pretty soon Cloud won't be my best friend anymore, but a brother-in-law if he ever gets the courage to pop the question to Tifa." Aeris stood up too and glanced at her.

"I'm glad to hear that, but still…I worry about you a lot."

"I'll never intentionally kill myself, I'd hate to make you guys cry, especially Robin. But even then you'd give me those scared eyes and worry about my pain as if it was your business. You and him." She started walking away.

"Him? You mean Sephiroth?" Aeris never received an answer so she softly said 'Good Night' to no one in particular and made her way back into town.

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          There are many reasons why Tarae keeps small items in her boots. One of them is because her boots are too big and putting things in them reduces the chances of her tripping and falling on her face. Now she enters Costa del Sol with boots in her hand after falling down once and is ready to finally get some sleep at the Inn now that she felt a whole lot better. She can only hope her bad day ends once she slips into her bed, but the sounds coming from her room are telling her the day still isn't over. She shook her head, weird things have been going on lately. First small amounts of her money had been disappearing, then she gained a second shadow since Junon, and during the boat ride, she kept hearing someone gagging nearby. She quietly opened the door and flipped the light switch. Immediately, items were dropped and the figure ran around the room with lightning speed so it could try to throw her off. But all Tarae had to do was hold out her hand and it came in contact with the intruder's arm once it tried to run out the door. The intruder was flung back inside and on to the bed before she closed the door behind her. Sitting on her bed was a girl not much older than Tarae and had short brown hair tied up with a hunter green headband and hazel eyes. She wore white shorts, a hunter green shirt that was tight fitting, and an arm guard that was probably holding many weapons, stolen items, and tools for stealing. One look in the eyes told her that this girl is a Wutainese Ninja.

"Well if it isn't Yuffie Kisaragi. I have been wondering when our paths would cross." The girl looks shocked for a moment before getting angry.

"How do you know my name!?"

"All it takes is one look at the face to learn one's name from the internet." Tarae answered calmly.

"We never met before!"

"No, but I have seen you many times. You became my hero when you stole all of Scarlet's materia, guns, and ammo 5 years ago and of course my favorite was when you stole Heidegger's materia 2 years ago and he ran-no-waddled after you instead of calling his soldiers. The soldiers that already were in pursuit were knocked over because the ground shook every time he landed on the ground." Yuffie began laughing a little with Tarae as she remembered that day.

"But anyway," Tarae continued while pulling out a green materia orb from her pocket, "I thought it only fair to get to know your name since you probably already know mine. You probably also know that you are not going to be able to escape easily so why don't you relax and place all the materia you stolen from me on the bed." The young ninja audibly gulped. She didn't know what kind of materia Tarae held in her hand. It could be a really powerful elemental spell or some new creation of hers that could turn a person inside out. Whatever it was, Yuffie did not want to find out. So with much misery, she deposited all except Tifa and Aeris's materia on the bed. Tarae walked up to the pile and separated the orbs in two groups, then did something unexpected. She gave the materia orb she was holding to the materia hunter.

"Here, this fire orb has about three more battles before it is mastered and you can take this pile with you. The rest are untested or failure orbs that I think I should keep." Yuffie gaped at her before taking them.

"Why are you doing this? You should-"

"Turn you in?" Tarae put up her materia, "I know you have a good reason for stealing materia. It's for Wutai right?" Yuffie nodded so she continued, "Well, what do I need with so much materia when I could just create more when I return home? So what do you say? Friends?" she holds out her hand and Yuffie only stares at it.

"Friends?" she echoes.

"Why not? I don't have any friends my around my age, unless you count the president, but he doesn't act like a teenager." She shakes her hand after a few minutes of thinking and deciding whether or not Tarae was trustworthy.

"O-okay, we can be friends and uh….thanks." Yuffie was still a little dumbstruck from the unexpected turn of events.

"You're welcome. Now you better go before Tifa and Aeris come back. I don't think they are going to like it when they find out their materia is missing." Yuffie nods, then get up and walks to the door.

"Yuffie?"

"Hmm?"

"If you ever find my mansion, come visit, because I will have a bag full of materia waiting for you."

"Alright. I will. 'Till we meet again." She opens the door and leaves. Tarae sighs and gathers her things. She decided to go sleep on the couch tonight so she doesn't get a rude awakening when the girls find their materia gone.

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"Tarae? …Hey Tarae! Wake up!" she opened her eyes to see a blurry, spiky, yellow colored thing hovering over her. Once her eyes focused the blur transformed into Cloud.

"Waddaya want?" she slurred while trying to hold back a yawn.

"Well, I was just wonderin' why you are sleeping on the couch. What did you do to get thrown out this time?" he asked while leaning against the back of the couch.

"First of all, I've never been thrown out before and second of all, the reason I'm sleeping on this couch is because…" she checks her watch, "…three, two , one…" she points to her room and a scream emits from it instantly, "…of that." Tarae then pulls her pillow over her head as Aeris and Tifa run out of their room.

"We've been robbed!" Aeris shrieked as Tifa tried to clam her down.

"What?" Cloud didn't look convinced, but didn't get a response from Tarae when he glanced at her.

"All of my materia is gone!"

"And all the materia that wasn't on my weapon is gone too." Tifa added, "I can survive with what I still have."

"It's not like your special materia was stolen, Aeris. Just buy more…" Tarae grumbles through the pillow and fishes through her bag for some Gil. Once she obtains it, she throws it and it nearly hits Tifa in the head because she couldn't see. Cloud grabs the bag of Gil before it hits Tifa and hands it to Aeris. She takes the money then stares at the sprawled form on the couch. She then walks up to it and pulls the pillow off of Tarae's head.

"Why do I have the feeling that you had a hand in this?" Tarae puts on a shocked look.

"Aeris. Why would I steal your materia when I own a materia factory?"

"I would think you would do it for the laughs than the materia." She gets angry as Tarae smiles sarcastically.

"I would never think to take something so precious from you so you would ruin your beauty sleep ... and mine!!!!!" she yanks the pillow from Aeris grasp and puts it back on her head. She pulls it back off.

"Well if you're not guilty, then why are you sleeping on the couch!?"

 "With a mouth like yours, I wonder." Tarae smirks before pulling the pillow back on her head, making her voice muffled once again, "Besides, my materia was stolen too."

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Tarae. I really thought you did it." Aeris blushes a little from her mistake and backs away from the couch. Red XIII and Barret enters the lobby.

"What's all the commotion?" Red asks before he stretches. Cloud looks around to find everyone here.

"Nothing. Now that we are all here, I can tell you what the plans are for today. Barret, you Red XIII and Aeris are first going to a materia shop to get Aeris more materia and then head west pass the mountains towards Corel. The rest of us will follow 20 minutes later." Tarae finally decided to get up so she sat up on the couch to face Cloud and couldn't help but notice the look of sadness that briefly passed Barret's face when Corel was mentioned.

"Awright, we'll leave now." The chosen group headed for the door and Tifa walked back to her room to finish packing.

"Cloud? I have this feeling that you don't like Aeris very much. Of course I know you have a tendency to stare at Tifa and forget about the world around you, but the way you do that around Aeris seems like you hate her or something." Tarae explains while she puts on her boots and stuffs her recent black mail items in there. Cloud turns to her.

"I don't hate her, in fact I love her as if she's my sister, but she seems to be flirting with me every time I talk to her."

"Aeris?" They look at the door where Aeris was just leaving. She notices them staring so she smiles and waves at them before closing the door. Tarae smirks and faces Cloud again.

"Oh, don't you know? Aeris is my secret agent sent to make Tifa jealous. Hehehehehe…Actually, believe it or not, she isn't flirting because she already has a boyfriend and I don't think she would cheat on him now."

"Really?" asked Cloud, still looking doubtful.

"Of course! I was the one who got them to start dating. But speaking of relationships, how did your date with Tifa go?"

"I guess it was- wait, how did know about the date? Were you eavesdropping again?!" She immediately jumped up from her seat.

"Oops! Look at the time. I gotta see a man about some good sword proof armor." She then runs as fast as she can out the door and behind a corner so Cloud won't be able to find her before they leave. Tarae knew she will be safe when Tifa is around. Out of habit, she raises her hand to grab her locket, but is surprised to find it gone.

"Oh-no, where did my locket go?! Its last gift my aunt gave me, I can't loose it!" Then it felt like she was struck by lightning as everything in her mind turned black. That clink she heard on the docks was actually her locket falling off its silver chain. After watching out for Cloud, she starts heading for the dock knowing it would be a futile attempt.

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          A masculine hand reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver heart shaped locket with tiny emerald gemstones set in it. The hand opened the locket to reveal a picture of what looked like to be a family. There was a man in his late 20s with blonde hair and crystalline blue eyes smiling at the camera. Next to him was a woman in her mid 20s with long light brown hair and brown eyes. She was holding an adorable baby with eyes identical to the man's. But the most noticeable one in the picture was the little girl in front of them. She had large green eyes and dark brown hair that was tied up in pigtails with green ribbon.

"…Tarae…" the man whispers softly as he put the locket somewhere safe, "…I suppose you'll want this back."

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Fagtron: I rule! (Zap!) I rule! (Zap!) I'm the greatest! (Zap!) (Sorceress Myst enters the studio) AHHH! Why'd you come back so early?

Sorceress Myst: Early? I've been gone for 4 hours! (Takes the helmet off of Fagtron's head)

Fagtron: Then that means…Oh-no! The story is over! I missed it!

Sorceress Myst: Ooh tough luck. How about you read those pitiful attempts to get the reader interested and then I'll let you have the rest of the day off.

Fagtron: REALLY!!! Will Cloud ever ask Tifa out again? Is he gonna beat Tarae up for eavesdropping? Who the frickin' heck is Aeris boyfriend already?! When will we see Yuffie again? And who has Tarae's locket? Find out in later chapters. Can I go now?

Sorceress Myst: Sure (Fagtron does a victory dance and leaves) Oh, before I forget, I have revised chapters 1-10 and the early chapters have new additions added to them so you might want to go back and read them if you haven't already. C ya! And don't forget to review please!