The sound of shattering glass made everyone look at Sephiroth. He accidentally dropped his glass of water on the floor. It was his lunch break in ShinRa and he was in the cafeteria of the building.
Frowning, he just stared at the shattered glass on the wet floor before him. His heart was racing all of a sudden but he couldn't think well. Confused, he just decided to get a new glass of water. "I wonder what made me drop that…" he was thinking silently.
As Sephiroth dropped the glass on the floor, another incident happened regarding Rufus, this time in Junon. He was writing some numbers on a scratch paper with a mechanical pencil when the lead just broke off, surprising him. He frowned while thinking to himself, "I must be so stressed I'm pressing it too hard against the paper…"
Tifa looked up at the skies when she felt that the wind suddenly turned chilly. She shivered as she felt her heart sink for a moment.
"Anything wrong?" Yuffie asked her.
Tifa just smiled weakly as she shook her head. "I… guess I got so used to wearing three-layered clothes in ShinRa that I'm not used to wearing my old clothes anymore." She said with a silly smile on her face.
"If your husband sees you wearing that, he might freak out. The First Lady of ShinRa is scantily-clad and…"
"Har har har! Very funny, Aerith!" Tifa snapped with a sarcastic smile on her face before she playfully slapped her friend's back.
Aerith giggled before examining her reflection on the glass window. "Hmm… I think my butt increased in size when I gave birth to Sora 14 years ago…" she muttered with a miserable look on her face. "This pink dress feels so tight around the hip area already!" she remarked.
"Heeheeheehee! At least I'm proud to say that I still weigh the same from before!" Yuffie cheered happily.
"Good. Make us feel jealous," Tifa muttered before checking the map.
Aerith and Yuffie looked over her shoulder. "Since when did you learn how to navigate yachts?" the latter asked.
"Oh believe me, you learn a lot of things when you're a ShinRa." Tifa explained with a wink.
The two just stared strangely at her. She giggled. "Okay, so I just watch Rufus whenever he's driving this thing." She pointed out.
"You mean this is his yacht?" Aerith asked.
"Obviously. The name of this yacht is The President. But I was the one who had it made for him for his birthday last year so I have every right to use it for my own purpose." Tifa explained.
"Does he even know what we're doing right now?" Yuffie asked with a suspicious look on her face.
"Nah-uh." Tifa responded while shaking her head in disagreement.
Yuffie's eyes widened before turning to Aerith. Aerith smiled calmly at her. "I told Cloud that I'm helping Tifa with some work regarding charity." She explained.
Yuffie's mouth dropped open as she sat down on a chair. "Oh so I'm the only one who told Zack the truth!" she pointed out.
Silence.
"Don't worry, in case he tells Cloud and Rufus, those two would never believe him. I swear!" Tifa said with a wink.
Yuffie made a face. "GAWDS! So that's why he thinks that life is so unfair because your boys and their other friends are bullying him!" she snapped in disbelief.
Tifa and Aerith just snickered, "Well that's his problem," the latter said with a silly smile on her face.
Yuffie leaned back on the chair and crossed her arms. "Hmf! Oh well… at least Zack doesn't go baaaaah whenever his brain is clouded!" she said mockingly.
Aerith frowned at her. "At least Cloud doesn't think that life is unfair!" she said.
"Alright, stop it, you two," Tifa said with a singsong voice.
Yuffie just turned to her with a curious look on her face, "But if we're manually searching for your daughter, how come we're heading for Nibelheim?" she asked.
"I want to check the reactor there… just in case there's something suspicious with the reactor." Tifa explained.
"Huh? Why? What's the connection between the reactor and your daughter?" Aerith asked.
"Mako energy." Tifa answered rather vaguely that the two were not able to understand what she meant by that. When she realized this, she just sighed heavily before proceeding, "Rufus assigned Lucrecia to keep the facts about our daughter as confidential as possible. She's really doing a great job about it even though Hojo wants all the data because he's fascinated by her abilities."
"Why? What can she do?" Aerith asked curiously.
"A lot of stuff no ordinary human could do… not even you or I can do something like… moving objects, burning stuff by looking at them, telepathy, projecting your thoughts on TV…" Tifa smiled gently upon remembering the times when her daughter was still a toddler and she was taking care of her very well. "Lucrecia transferred all the facts and data on how my daughter does all that kind of stuff in a small microchip. Rufus had this microchip embedded within the ShinRa logo of the heart pendant he had asked his personal jeweler to design. Since Lucrecia works part-time in the Rocket Town hospital because she assists the interns there, she kept the pendant in a box secured inside a safe. However, when Rufus fired Hojo, we suspected that he might do something nasty like steal it… so Rufus and I asked Cloud and Sephiroth to go to Rocket Town and retrieve the box from Lucrecia. We didn't really expect that some goonies are already waiting for them there." She explained.
"Whoa… that's really something! But what's going to happen to the pendant? Is Rufus going to keep it hidden forever?" Yuffie asked in awe.
"No. Of course not. We're planning to give it to our daughter on her 18th birthday eight years from now." Tifa said with a proud look on her face.
Aerith smiled calmly, "Oh that's so sweet of you two…" she remarked with a dreamy stare.
Yuffie thought for a while before saying, "When did she disappear anyway?" she asked.
"She… disappeared during Rufus's Welcoming Ceremony in Junon last year." Tifa explained with a hard tone. She sighed heavily, "The strange thing is, there was no word about her. Not even a ransom note… we didn't know who to blame! Nobody contacted us whether they wanted anything in return… so Rufus and I thought that what that person really wanted to know is how she controls things with her mind." She explained.
"And when did you fire Hojo?" Aerith asked.
"The day before Cloud and Sephiroth tried to retrieve the box in…" Tifa trailed off as her eyes widen. "…Could it be… that he's the one responsible for this?" she whispered.
"It could be possible that an employee can do something stupid behind his boss's back." Aerith pointed out.
"So you mean to say, Hojo kidnapped the little girl and hid her some place we don't know of but he still continued to work in ShinRa for one more year before Rufus fired him?" Yuffie asked.
"Why did Rufus fire him anyway?" Aerith asked Tifa.
"He wanted to redo the JENOVA Project and wanted unborn human test subjects again… just like what he did to Lucrecia before… But thank goodness, Rufus is not as crazy like his father, so he disapproved of the idea and fired Hojo." She explained with a slight smile on her face when she finally saw the Pierre from where they are. "We're nearing Nibelheim." She announced to them.
"You sure you're alright?" Squall asked Sora as he sat down by the bed inside the infirmary where they took Sora, Kairi, Zell and Selphie after the incident.
Sora just nodded his head with a sad look on his face. "Are… are they still… alive? Riku and Samara?" he asked.
Squall bowed down his head. "I'm not sure…" he said.
Sora just sighed heavily before he sat up on the bed. "Where are we going anyway?" he asked.
"To your area." Squall said.
Sora looked up at him with awe. "You mean… Midgar?" he asked.
"Not really sure… but we cannot really stay in the continent where Balamb Town is… Kuja and his forces are really destroying everything… and he's also after your friend, Samara, for a reason that we cannot understand." Squall explained.
"What? But… why would he even want Samara?" Sora asked with a confused look on his face.
"I don't know. We all thought that all he wanted is complete control of Planetary fuel… so he's making those light orbs appear and if people come near it, they turn into monsters." Squall told him.
Sora was silent for a while, trying to remember things that his father had mentioned to him and from the books he had read in the past. His eyes narrowed as he said, "Mako energy…"
Squall stared inquiringly at him. "Huh?"
Sora looked up at him with a stern look on his face, "Mako energy. That's what he wants! But… but why?" he asked.
"Mako energy? Where did you…"
"My daddy knows about it! If you want we can consult him!" Sora said excitedly.
Squall thought for a while before replying, "Alright… you stay here for a while. I'll just check if we're near Kalm already." He got up with a slight smile on his face before exiting.
"Kalm?" Sora asked in awe.
After waiting for a few moments, Quistis entered with a dark-haired girl in blue. "Hello, Sora. How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm alright, Ma'am." He replied with a weak smile on his face.
The dark-haired girl smiled at him before patting his head. "Oh, he's so cute! He looks like Cloud and Aerith combined!" she remarked.
Sora blinked. Quistis chuckled lightly, "Sora, I'd like you to meet Rinoa." She introduced. He smiled shyly at her, "Hello, ma'am." He greeted.
Rinoa smiled sweetly at him. "Nice to finally meet you. Squall's told me much about you." She said.
"Really?" Sora asked, not really knowing how to react to that. He shrugged and just smiled at them, "Uhm… Squall told me we're heading for Kalm?" he asked.
"Yes. We are. If we're not mistaken, Midgar is just near that place?" Quistis asked.
Sora thought for a while before nodding slightly, "I… guess. I'm not really sure coz I'm not familiar with that area." He said with a sheepish look on his face.
"How come?" Rinoa asked.
"Well… I didn't exactly grow up there." He replied with a silly smile on his face.
"Well then I hope people there are kind enough to people who are asking for directions if ever we get lost." She said with a wink.
He laughed at what she said, "Oh don't worry about it! I'm sure people there are nice." He pointed out.
They were silent for a while before Quistis spoke up again, "Your friend, Samara… where is she from?" she asked.
Sora shrugged. "She wouldn't really tell us." He replied.
She sighed heavily, "It's quite disturbing… what she did moments ago… she killed those creatures in black. She even disturbed the radio waves and something happened to the radar too. Nida almost failed to navigate properly moments ago and we almost crashed! … and she was able to weaken your hearts!" she pointed out with a look of disbelief on her face.
Rinoa went to the window and looked outside, "We're landing." She declared before turning to face him again with a calm look on her face, "How did you find her anyway?" she asked.
"It was Riku who discovered her inside a well when someone pushed him inside." He explained.
The two women stared at him in awe.
He nodded. "It's true! Some dork pushed them inside the well!" he told them.
"But… but who?" Rinoa asked in disbelief.
"We don't know… but maybe it's a psycho judging from what he did to them." He replied with an angry look on his face.
"Oh well… maybe you'd like us to help you investigate on that?" Rinoa asked with a sweet smile on her face.
Sora looked up at them.
"We have a feeling that the person who did that is connected to Kuja." Quistis pointed out.
Sora smiled and nodded. "Thank you, ma'am. We really appreciate your help. Oh yeah! And if you want to know something about Mako energy, you can ask my dad! We can go to him once we land!" he told them excitedly.
"That's great! Where do you live anyway?" Rinoa asked.
"Sector 2 in Midgar. However, you can also go to ShinRa and ask their Chief Scientist." He said.
"Well… we'd like to do the questioning and investigation with you and Kairi around, so better rest now and get well soon." Quistis told him with a gentle look on her face before letting him lie down again.
"But I'm fine!" Sora protested.
"No you're not. You still look pale! And your heart rate isn't normal yet. Kairi is still weak, so we'd better wait for her recovery too, okay?" she asked gently.
He just nodded miserably. She smiled as she patted his head gently, "Don't worry, we'll go your mom and dad and inform them of what happened, okay?" she asked.
Sora smiled happily. "Really?" he asked excitedly.
"Of course." Rinoa said with a kind smile on her face. "And while we're at it, we'll also send some search troops around for Riku and Samara, okay?" she asked.
Sora sighed in relief. "Gee… thank you." He said gratefully.
Seven days later…
Samara slowly opened her eyes when she heard the sound of waves crashing against some big rocks. She could feel someone breathing underneath her… and her eyes suddenly widened when she realized who it was. She instantly moved away from Riku who had his arms securely around her. She stared at him for several moments as she breathed heavily. Slowly, she calmed down. "How long has it been?" she was thinking silently. She thought she had dreamt everything… from the time when she jumped off the Garden and saw that Riku followed to the time when they landed. She almost forgot to breathe again when she recalled that she was supposed to crash against the ground first… and it could kill her… but he instantly took her in his arms and they switched. The last thing she saw was his smiling face before she lost consciousness.
"Why… why did I lose consciousness too?" she thought silently. Maybe she was mentally and emotionally tired and stressed that her mind and body just gave way.
She stared at him, wanting to know if he's still breathing. She just bit her lower lip, not wanting to come near him anymore because she began to doubt him… "I can't trust anyone anymore… everybody just wants to use me…" she thought silently as she felt tears streaming down her face. She buried her face against her knees as she crouched, embracing her knees, drawing them closer to herself. She sobbed helplessly. "Why can't I be like any normal kid?... like Theodore… or Lavinia… or even Morrigan?" she thought angrily to herself. She was better off dead… but the chance slipped away when Riku had to interfere... twice already! First, she was on her seventh day in the well when he arrived. His company kept her alive. Then when she attempted to kill herself by jumping off the Garden, he jumped too and attempted to save her life by serving as a cushion for her when they landed on the hard ground. "He's keeping me alive because he wants to use me too…" she thought silently as she continued to sob. She slowly lifted her head and gazed up at the setting sun before bowing down her head, holding the heart pendant in her hand. She smiled bitterly as she looked at the ShinRa logo. "Daddy…" she said softly as more tears fell from her eyes. She sobbed, "Mommy…" she whispered hoarsely.
Riku slowly opened his eyes when he heard someone sobbing. He gazed up at the orangey skies before he tried to stand up, but he felt some pain on his back. "O…ow…" he muttered. He fell back on the hard ground, disappointed that he did not really land on sand. Instead, he was near a cave. He turned his head to the side and saw the little girl crying just a few feet away from him. Gathering enough strength and willpower to mind off the pain he was feeling all over his body, he slowly sat up, keeping his eye on her, "Samara," he began.
She stopped crying when she heard his voice. She turned to him, eyeing him suspiciously and angrily before she wiped her tears away and got up immediately, running away from him. His eyes widened in shock. "Samara!" he called out. He reached out a hand to her… he wanted her to help him stand up… but she was gone. Frustrated and annoyed, he just decided to gather more strength and willpower to make himself useful and got up on his own. He tried to walk slowly at first until he could finally run.
Samara reached the shore, but she stopped running. There was just something about the ocean that scared her. She remembered the saying, "Frolic in brine, goblins be thine." She shivered as she took a few steps away from the water before the waves could wet her black leather shoes.
"Samara!" he called out to her again.
She turned around and saw him approaching. She just stood there, bowing her head. She felt so tired and helpless… she just wanted everything to go away. "I could just kill him…" she decided as she slowly lifted her gaze to him.
He finally got to her. She was about to start torturing him, but she was interrupted when he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her rather violently, "What's wrong with you?! Huh?! This is what I get after I saved your life?! Are you insane?!" he demanded angrily.
She stared bitterly at him. Now she was really angry… She instantly grabbed his wrists tightly. He stopped shaking her and his facial expression changed from angry to calm… but it appeared like he was also going to cry. "Samara… please tell me what's wrong… I can't go on like this!" he told her with a helpless tone.
"What's wrong?! What's wrong?! You want to know what's wrong?" she clenched her teeth and her blue eyes seemed to glow strangely as they widened. Riku suddenly felt some pain in his heart again. He slowly slipped away from her as she also let go of him. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest. "Argh! Samara… stop it!!! It hurts!" he begged.
But she would not stop. She just went on.
Knowing she would not stop and part of him wanted to defend himself, he got his Keyblade, ready to use it against her, but the pain worsened. He let go of his weapon as he struggled to crawl towards her, but she was slowly moving away from him. She sneered at him, "You… you and everybody else… I cannot trust anyone anymore! All that people wanted to do to me is to call me names, discriminate me… use me! Everyone must pay… everyone will suffer…"
He looked up at her. "Samara, I… please… I'm not using you! I want to… to help you! Kuja is the one who wants you so I'm stopping him even though he's my brother! I don't know why he's even doing that… but… ow…" he crouched in pain. Tears fell from his eyes because of the unbearable pain.
She clenched her fists. "All I wanted is to be heard… for people to understand me… It's not my fault that I'm different, is it? Though sometimes, I'd wish that I was normal… just like you… or Kairi… or even Sora… or even my sisters Morrigan and Lavinia… and my brother Theodore…" she sniffed and wiped her tears away.
"Oh so you think I'm normal? What do you call this silver hair?!" he demanded from her. She just stared angrily at him as he proceeded with a bitter look on his face and a hateful tone, "I have weird parents; my blood's not normal coz it's got this… JEN… JENOVA… something, whatever the hell that thing is! My eldest brother bullies me and I can't even fight him decently for a reason that I can't understand! And I…" he realized that he was already crying too… probably because of mixed emotions and the physical and emotional pain that he was feeling. But what he could not really understand is why she suddenly did not trust him… and he thought that it was one of the worst feelings in the world: to feel that people lost their trust in you.
She just bit her lower lip as she slightly bowed down her head, her hair framing her face as she clenched her fists further, not caring it her hands were already hurting. She was used to pain… and it was so horrible… so she wants to make the others feel pain too… but the pain is much worse than what she can feel emotionally and what she had suffered physically. She felt herself getting so numb… and she felt so cold and she was already shaking. "I just want to go home…" she said softly.
She sniffed and smiled bitterly at him, "I just want to be with my mommy and daddy again… to be with my family… to be happy with them… to live in peace with them…" she told him with a shaky tone as she relaxed her fists a little as she fell on her knees. She began to cry more and more… and she just covered her face and sobbed helplessly, collapsing to the ground and just crying there.
Riku felt the pain slowly fading away and he eased up. His breathing was normal again, but he was still in a state of shock. He thought he had been in hell because of the pain…. And he thought he heard her tell him, "hell is real." … but maybe it was just in his imagination… or she talked to him telepathically. Slowly, he got up and walked slowly to her, staring down at her with pity in his eyes. He had never seen such suffering before… and she's just a little girl…
He bent knelt down before her and touched her shoulders gently, "Samara," he began.
She was still sobbing and crying helplessly. He gently squeezed her shoulders as he smiled slightly at her, "Samara," he said softly as he slowly lifted her up, making her sit down and face him properly. Her hair was completely covering her face, but he used one of his hands to push the long ebony locks away from her face and pushing them over her shoulders. She did not want to look at him for fear that he might find out her secrets and her real suffering from deep inside once he makes direct eye contact with her in that kind of situation.
He just smiled gently at her before deciding to just take her in his arms and embrace her gently; cradling her to himself.
She just rested her head on his shoulder as she continued to cry.