Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sqauresoft Characters such as Cloud,
Tifa, and Barret etc. I do however own all of my own Characters Such as
Gale Amber, Stratus Strife and so on.

The Forgotten

Chapter 42: An Enemy Become Ally.

The teenaged gunslinger heard his name being called and felt his body being shook as he woke from his exhausted sleep. He opened his eyes slowly and after a few blinks his blurry vision cleared and he recognised the face of Gale peering over him and Stratus standing just behind her.

"Hey." He spoke after a groan. "Did we win?"

"That depends." Stratus mumbled from behind Gale. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Lance tried to sit up and after a few attempts managed the normally easy task. "Well I will be."

"Come on." Gale offered her hand and he took it. After helping him to his feet and half dragging him over to the others Tifa cured the boy. He flexed his arms and stretched his aching body then smiled.

"Good as new." He smirked. "Thanks Tifa."

"That's no problem." Tifa replied then looked over at the fallen body of Talenous. "You sure wasted him."

After that the group left the now desolate city of rubble that was once Ranish City and the capital of the world and headed back to Costa Del Sol where the situation would be reviewed and the next step decided.

----

The dirt smudged under his dark boots as he trod through the open fields, not quite knowing where he was going but feeling he needed to go their. His dark brown hair fluttered back and forth in the chilling wind that graced the land as he walked and walked. He felt like he had been walking for hours and hours but in reality it had only been close to two hours when he finally stopped and let his knees hit the dirty ground below him. He then let his trusted blade drop to the floor before running his hands through his shaggy hair.

"Mother!" he whispered to himself as if she could hear him from her grave. "Father. Forgive me."

With that he struck the floor with a yell and would have cried, if it were possible for the man to do so for he had long since forgotten how to do that. He stood and looked down at himself, his face screwed up and he spat to the ground. With a rough tug he pulled the shirt that bared the emblem of Ranish from his chest and threw it to the ground.

"No longer do I work for you." He spat. "You have taken my life in more than one way. First my parents. Then my own life."

He then started to trek through the land again before stopping a few feet away from his shirt and blade. He furrowed his brow then turned back to his discarded items before stepping back up to them. He looked keenly down at the two, first his blade, then the torn shirt. He knelt and grabbed his blade before standing erect again.

"For you mother." He spoke softly. "And you father. I will not let those foul creatures get away with their terrible deeds. Even if it kills me to stop them. I will!"

----

Our heroes arrived at Costa Del Sol just as the sun was reaching it's highest into the sky. Cloud told the group to get a little rest then meet up back at the house at seven to discuss their next step. Lance was the first to enter and headed straight to Luna. Stratus and Gale went to Stratus's room. Akira and Blain returned to their hotel rooms. Rain went out of town to train whilst Cid and Shera retreated to their room. Yuffie and Vincent followed after Blain and Akira and went back to their room. Red stood in silent thought before hiding himself in some shade and lying down. Tifa went to the kitchen and began preparing some food for later on as Cloud decided to visit his shop.

----

Stratus fell to his bed with a sigh and for the first time in days was able to relax. Gale had followed him into his room and sat on the end of his bed silently. He took a deep breath and then sat up and shuffled over to her.

"You okay?" he asked into her ear. She smiled at his actions then replied:

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"You sure?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah."

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"Just wondering what's going to happen." She replied after a short pause. "I mean we have to defeat this Staan right. But how? We don't even know where he is and even if we did I doubt we could beat him. You saw how he beat both Chaos and Piper with ease. How do we beat someone like that?"

"Hey," he put his arm around her. "Don't worry bout a thing. We can beat him. I'm sure of it. Sure he's tough but I doubt he could beat us all if we attacked as one. So don't worry. We can do it."

"You promise?"

"Promise." With that he kissed her cheek and pulled her into an embrace.

----

The time flew by for all and soon they found themselves huddled around the Strife households living area.

"Lets get started then." Cloud began. "We have ridden the world of one problem and now we must face the next. The problem is we have no idea where this next problem is. Any ideas?"

He was answered with hung heads and shrugs from his group, followed by the odd 'I'm afraid not'.

"Great." He sighed. "Just as I thought."

"It look's like your stuck then." Exclaimed a familiar voice from the doorway. The group turned to see Piper leaning against the frame and holding his Oblivion at his side.

"What the fuck are you doing here!" Blain roared to life and stepped up to Piper.

"I'm here to help you." Stated Piper. "And it look's like you need it."

"We don't need none of your help you Ranish Scum!" Blain balled his fists.

"Shut your foolish mouth!" Piper stepped forward now and was at eye level with the Bounty Hunter. "You cannot beat this guy alone. None of you can. I can't. Trust me, I've tried and I failed. As much I hate to say that it's the truth. All of together probably don't stand much chance but we defiantly don't if we separate. So I say we forget the past and focus on making sure we have a future."

"He has a point Blain." Akira spoke up. "I don't like the fact he is Ranish no more than you but he odes have a point."

"Hey." Piper shouted. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm no longer Ranish. Understand?"

"Very well." Akira nodded and Blain grunted before turning his back to the man and leaning against the wall again.

"We're still stuck though." Cloud pointed out.

"As I said we both need each other's help." Piper said. "I need your help to beat him. You need my help to find him."

"You know where Staan is?" Vincent asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes." Piper answered. "Yes I do."

And so Piper informed them of all he had learned. He told them about how he went back to Ranish and searched through the rubble until he found what he was looking for, the old files containing the information about Shinra and Hojo's experiment's.

"That's where I found out about an Island in the south west. Apparently there is no record of it on maps and so on but if we go there I'm sure we'll find it."

"And what makes you think Staan went there?" Akira enquired.

"I don't know for sure but it's better than nothing right?" Piper explained.

"But what if it's a waste of time and whilst we're looking there he destroys the planet?" Gale asked.

"We'll just have to risk it." Piper said. "We don't have anything else to go on do we."

"So how do you propose we get there?" Cloud finally asked.

"I was hoping you could help there."

"Leave that to me." Cid spoke as he stood.

"Then that's it." Cloud announced. "We go check out that island."

"It'll take me a while to get the Highwind up and running again." Cid informed.

"Then you best get going." Cloud thought aloud. "The rest of us will prepare until you get back and then we head out. Okay?"

The group nodded and then broke off and Cid and Rain headed out of town and towards Rocket City on their gold Chocobo's.

----

Piper stood up on the hill close to Costa Del Sol and let the light wind blow upon him, making his cloak and hair flutter around him. The sound of soft steps coming up the hill made him turn to see Stratus heading up the hill towards him. Stratus stopped when he noticed Piper and looked a little surprised to see him but continued on anyway. He stopped just next to Piper and gazed out onto the horizon.

"Didn't expect to find you here." Stratus said matter-of-factly.

"Didn't expect anyone to find me here." Piper shot back.

"I always come here to think." Stratus told him. "I guess that's what your doing?"

"Yeah."

"Where kinda alike aren't we." Stratus whispered.

"Guess so."

"You think we stand a chance?" Stratus asked, getting slightly irritated by Piper's short answers.

"Maybe."

"Is that all your going to say?" Stratus almost shouted. "'Yeah', 'Guess so' and 'Maybe'?"

"Maybe." Piper laughed.

"Fuck it!" Stratus turned to walk back down the hill.

"I don't care if we stand a chance Stratus." Piper called and Stratus stopped. "We may stand more of a chance than we think. We may stand no chance at all. But that doesn't matter to me. If I need to die to atone for what I've done I will."

"It wasn't your fault you know." Stratus said. "I forgive you and so should the others. You where tricked. It's not your fault. You remember that." And with that Stratus left the hill and Piper alone as the light wind picked up slightly.

"Thank you." Piper whispered but the words where lost to Stratus in the wind.

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