A/N: Sorry for the wait; again, writer's block. But I finally brainstormed some decent ideas! And plus I was reading the Silver Wings trilogy (by akksgurl, it's awesome) and that kept me occupied. I won't have time to write until Monday, and I won't have a lot of time to update either because tomorrow I'm going to Sawdust Days (a fair) and going to see the fireworks and stuff then Sunday is Independence Day and such so I will be busy busy busy! Well here's Chapter Five, hope you like it!
-Chapter Five-
-Escape-
"Who are you?" Piper asked.
The brunette smiled, "My name is Tifa Lockheart."
"Tifa?" Piper said with wide eyes. This was the woman who Dad was married to before Mom... wait... "Am I... dead?"
"No," Tifa shook her head. "You're just unconscious."
Piper sat up, taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be sitting on a cloud. Tifa was dressed in a white gown, a great contrast to the torn and dirty skirt she wore herself. "What happened?"
"Piper, you are in a lot of danger," Tifa spoke, her voice calm but stern. "You have to get out of Spira."
"How am I in danger? Why are all these things happening to me?" Piper wanted to know.
Tifa sighed, sitting beside Piper. "Listen to me, you were never supposed to know about Spira. Aeris made a grave mistake by letting you know anything at all. It's best if you forgot everything about it, and Sephiroth."
"Who is this Sephiroth guy everyone mentions anyway?" Piper asked. "I'm not getting home anytime soon, so why can't I know?"
The young woman looked at Piper with wide, worried eyes. "Because it doesn't matter. Sephiroth is dead, once and for all. He'll never follow anyone out of the plane of the dead again."
"Who did he follow out before?" Piper wondered, meeting her gaze.
Locking her eyes with Piper's, Tifa said, "Your mother."
"What?!" Piper exclaimed, her sapphire eyes blazing. "My mother is alive! She isn't dead!"
"Piper, calm down!"
She shook her head arrogantly. "No! I want the real answer! My mom is alive, tell me the truth!"
Tifa ran her hands through her long hair, sighing again. "If you will keep quiet, I'll tell you everything I know."
Piper closed her eyes, nodding slightly. I need answers. The real answers.
"It all began, many years ago. I grew up with your father, Cloud, in a little town called Nibelhiem. One day your father left our little town..."
Aeris sat on her daughter's bed, trying to think of any answer. They had searched all day, but there was no sign of her. She had disappeared. Being a mother, she thought the worst had happened. But another thought stuck in her mind. They had found the time-key in Piper's purse, just outside the door. "She must have gone to Spira by accident... but without the time-key, she can't get back," she assumed.
"...and then one day, she was back, almost as if she never left," Tifa finished.
Piper stared down at her hands, almost looking past them. How is any of that... possible? she wondered. "But what about Sephiroth? You said he followed her out," she said after a moment.
"I don't really know. I only found out as much when I died," Tifa said quietly. She still hadn't told Piper how she had died herself, and decided it was better she didn't know. Of course, there were many loopholes in her story. She had explained their journey but said nothing about Sephiroth in Spira. The bright light around them began to fade. "You're being called back to Spira. Be careful, Piper."
Almost as if from a dream, Piper awoke with a start, sitting up tiredly. Looking around, she realized she was in a hut, probably still on that island. How did I get here? Glancing up, she saw her new friend staring at her. "Hey there, Zalèa," she greeted.
"Piper! You're alive!" Zalèa cried out happily, squeezing the girl.
Pushing Zalèa off, she asked, "What do you mean, I'm alive? Was I dead?"
"Sorry, you've just been unconscious all day. We were starting to worry," the Al Bhed girl said sincerely.
"All day...?" Piper leaned back against the head of the bed. "How did we get here?"
"We don't really know. You, me, and Yuna were in this weird place, but you were unconscious. Then there was this strange light and we appeared here," Zalèa shrugged.
Yuna walked into the hut, "Oh, your awake. Good." She tossed a small object to Piper.
Turning it over in her hands, she realized it was a key, much like the one she had found the night before in her home. "What's this for?"
"For getting out of here," Yuna said, her voice firm. "You can't be here any longer Piper."
She stood up, trying to read the emotion in Yuna's eyes. "And how is this supposed to help?"
"It's called a time-key. It will take you back to your home."
Zalèa looked at Yuna, "Why can't she be here?"
The high summoner shook her head, "If you knew, you'd be prone to death, or worse."
The Al Bhed girl looked worriedly from Yuna to Piper, "And you're not?"
"It's not open for discussion, Zalèa. Your mother and father are in Djose. Your airship is waiting outside the village to take you there," Yuna spoke. Her voice trembled ever so slightly, but she kept a calm, stern composure. "Now go."
Emerald eyes blazing, Zalèa picked up her bag and stomped out of the room, muttering something in Al Bhed.
Piper watched her friend's act, and wondered why she was so angry. What did Zalèa know that Piper didn't? She wanted to go home, but she wanted to know why, and how, she was putting people in danger. "Yuna, what's going on?" she asked.
"Nothing is going on. Now take that key and walk out the door," she ordered.
Piper shook her head, "I want to know! How am I a threat to everyone? And why can't I know about my own parents?"
"Because, Piper, you are your mother's daughter. By coming here, you've awaken the Fayth and some dangerous people. If you stay much longer, you will end up being killed yourself and bringing the end to Spira. I can't let you do that," Yuna said, raising her voice slightly.
"That's not fair!" Piper cried, "First that kid in purple tells me I've already put people in danger and I was never meant to know about Sephiroth. Then Tifa goes ahead and tells me everything about her journey, but why I've never heard about Meteor before is beyond me. And she told me that Sephiroth followed Mom out of the Farplane, but somehow he's gone now and she doesn't know anything about it because she died that tragic death so many years ago. But I don't think she died the way I was told. She was probably murdered too, like my mom. And how the hell is it possible that I'm here and alive today when my Mom was dead for five years? It just doesn't make sense!"
Yuna looked at the young girl, her jaw dropped slightly. "You talked with Tifa?"
"You know her too?!" Piper threw her hands up in aggravation. "What the hell is going on here?!"
"Piper! Shh," the former summoner hushed. "Just take this letter and go out the door, okay?" she held out a piece of paper for Piper to take.
"Hey, what's going on in here?" asked a blonde man who had just entered, Evan and Nari's father. "I heard yelling."
Yuna smiled softly at her husband. She whispered something in his ear which made his eyes widen.
Piper crossed her arms, I want to go home... She knew this was true, but she wanted to know everything. Not just bits and pieces of the story. And she definitely wasn't going to find out anything at home. Or here. Someone else had to know though, right? Setting down the time-key, she took the letter and ran out of the hut into the warm summer night, hoping to catch up with Zalèa.
"No! Piper!" Tidus called after her, both he and Yuna sprinting after her.
"Zalèa!" Piper yelled, seeing her friend beginning to board a smaller yellow airship.
"Piper?" the Al Bhed girl cocked her head to one side. She saw Tidus and Yuna chasing after her, and smiled. "Hop on!" she said.
The copper haired girl followed Zalèa onto the small airship and they immediately took off, leaving the two adults in the dust. "Yipee!" she giggled.
The blonde grinned, carefully driving the airship. "So, why were you running from them anyway?"
"They want to send me home," Piper sighed. "But there is too much I have to know first. You think your parents can tell me anything?"
"Sure," Zalèa said, "Next stop, Djose Temple!" She pushed some buttons on the main panel and stood up. "It's on auto-pilot. Come on, let's get you some better clothes." She led Piper into a small cabin, pulling out some rather skimpy clothing.
"So is this your airship?" Piper asked, looking at the all green outfit.
"Yup. It's called the Dandilily," she said, her nose scrunched up. "My mom named it."
Piper laughed, "Which is why it's yellow, right?"
Zalèa nodded. "Yeah, but I've had the Dandilily ever since I was ten. It's my first airship."
"And you could fly it when you were ten?" Piper said, amazed.
"We Al Bhed specialize in machina. I suppose what I lack in blitzball skills makes up with machina," she grinned. "Well you can go on and change; we'll be in Djose in no time. Of course, my mom will probably flip when she finds out we blew off Yunie and Tidus like that."
Smiling, Piper thought about what her mother would do. She walked into the cabin and realized that she was angry with her mother and father. They lied to me. For years. What else have they been hiding from me? she wondered. And what will they do when they know I found out?
"You let them escape?!" cried an angry Sephianna.
"It wasn't my fault," the little girl, Ahriana retorted. "The Fayth helped her out."
The woman with long dual-colored hair growled, looking at a sphere. "Where are they headed?"
"Djose."
"Good. Next time we use her," she said, pointing to a teen with cropped jet-black hair. She lay unconscious on a bed.
The child raised a puzzled eyebrow, "The Kisaragi girl?" she shook her head. "We can hardly control her. She knows too much."
"Yes, but she won't have enough time to tell all. As soon as she gets the Ancient near her, we'll take them both back," Sephianna smirked. "And this time, not even the Fayth will be able to stop us."
A/N: Okay, just remember, Sephianna is the older one with long copper/silver hair and Ahriana is the little girl who's all purple. Don't worry if none of it makes sense now. It's not supposed to. But remember, Yuffie's last name is Kisaragi. That might tell you who it is if you payed careful attention a few chapters ago. To Aj-sama: Yup, that's exactly what happened. But how'd you guess it was Tifa? I thought most people would have guessed it was Lenne. Oh well. To Emma: Yeah, boyfriends are needed, but Tidus is! To Lady Complicated: What you said about her parents being famous, I took a lot of thought to that and why they aren't will be explained soon. (Maybe.) To Anrisa: Hurray! A new reader (i think) Anyways, thanks. To Saikia: Well I've basically talked to you in email so but believe me, I'm no competition to anyone either. There are a lot of REALLY good writers out there! To Beautiful Songstress: There will be a lot of trouble, probably for a long time. But the mushy stuff should be coming soon. The story took a turn I wasn't expecting. To Dr. P: Ha, someone agrees with me that last chappy was boring. More chapters probably will too --; oh well.
Well like I said, I won't be able to update for a while so enjoy this chapter (and check out my other stories HINT HINT to keep you entertained hehe) But uh-- For those of you who live in the USA, Happy 4th of July and don't get blown up by fireworks... or burn yourself on hot BBQ food... or fall into a lake and drown... or get hurt or anything that would cause me to lose all these great reviewers! Hehe.
LYL- Letselina
Happy Independance Day
