They Live!!!
By: GQ and Zhak
Chapter Ten: Changes
It was past curfew already, and from the window where Yuffie was seated, she could see no more people walking outside on the streets. "That President ShinRa has gone too far…" she muttered.
"We can't do anything until tomorrow evening, Yuffie. Why don't you just rest? You need it." Zack told her. She did not even reply. He took a quick glance at the clock and saw that it was already 8:00 in the evening already. "Damn… I can't believe we forgot to eat dinner. You wanna go downstairs and take a quick bite in the lobby restaurant or just order for room service?" he asked.
She just sat still, keeping her head bowed down, causing her hair to fall to her face. It appeared like she was hiding her facial expression from him so that he wouldn't know how she really feels.
He got up from the couch where he was seated. "What's wrong with you?" he asked rather impatiently. She was really beginning to bother him because she has been refusing to answer him properly. She was acting like a complete spoiled brat that she was from before…
And he thought that she had changed already in the two years that they were together. She was so determined to learn… so he taught her a lot of things… maybe except for discipline… because he thought that it should come from the person herself. "What is wrong with you? Can't you tie your hair?" he asked her.
"Leave me alone. Go back to your own room. I don't need you here." She muttered miserably.
Zack went to her and grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently, "YUFFIE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??!! You're not acting like yourself!" he snapped impatiently.
"GAWDS!!!" she pushed him away from herself… and even if he was way taller than her and muscular, she was able to make him fall backward to the ground.
Zack felt so stunned. She has become stronger… something in her really changed, not just her physical appearance brought about by the long hair… but by something else. There was a look in her eyes that revealed too much vulnerability in such a young lady like her. It made him feel somewhat guilty on how he had spoken to her and how he had treated her earlier. He just looked down, bowing down his head in obvious shame. He was already expecting more nagging from her, but she did not say anything else anymore. She just approached him with tears in her eyes. She knelt down before him but she was slouching. She had her eyes on the ground as she sniffed. "I'm worried about my daddy… what if they're torturing him now?" she asked rather helplessly… and she sounded like a child…
He felt his heart sink before he just mindlessly moved forward and took her in his arms, embracing her gently. She was surprised by this action of his but she could not move. He gently patted her back. "Don't worry so much about him, Yuffie. Cloud mentioned that Rufus is on our side… and it's the same with the Turks. Let's just hope that as long as Rufus is in ShinRa, he won't let anything bad happen to your dad." He told her reassuringly.
Yuffie just bit her lower lip before she rested her head on his strong chest, letting her tears fall as she sobbed.
He ran his fingers through her hair and gently patted her head, "Shh… don't worry. We… we just have to trust Rufus, alright?" he asked softly.
"But what if he changes his mind?!" Yuffie asked in annoyance.
Before Zack could say something, someone started knocking on the door, surprising them.
"Who…" he had managed to say before withdrawing from her and went to the door, peeking through the peep hole.
SOLDIER.
"IT'S SO UNFAIR!" Zack moved away from the door and rushed to Yuffie.
"Why?" she asked as she slowly got up and wiped her tears away. Zack went over to the window and peeked outside on the streets. "Shit… we're surrounded…" he told her.
Her eyes widened before rushing to the window to look. She clenched her fist. "Oh my gawd…" she said rather weakly.
"They're outside too. I think they're here to arrest us." Zack told her.
"WHAT?! But what are we going to do?!" she asked in confusion before moving away from the window. "We can't go down from the window; they're going to shoot us!" she told him.
Zack began to think of something… but he does not know if it would receive approval from Yuffie or not. "Oh whatever! I have to get her out of here! I'm sure it's her they're after." He thought in dismissal of the hesitancy and rushed to the bed, grabbing a rather round pillow. "Yuffie, do you have a dress here?" he asked her.
"Wh…what? But why? What are you going to do?" she asked in confusion.
Zack did not answer; he just went straight to her luggage and went through her clothes until he was able to find a green sundress. "Oh thank God you have one here!" he told her.
"Why? Daddy asked me to bring that just in case we get invited to dinner by the President…" she began as he approached her and handed her the dress. "Put it on now! And put this pillow underneath it… on your tummy!" he told her.
She felt a bit mortified by what he said, getting his idea, but she was not able to say anything because she herself is in a state of too much panic and confusion already. She rushed to the bathroom to dress up while Zack went over to their weapons and grabbed them.
After two minutes, Yuffie got out of the bathroom wearing the dress with the pillow underneath it on her tummy. She looked like a pregnant woman of 9 months, which made Zack smile and laugh slightly at the sight of her looking so young but with a baby. "Hahah." And grabbed his Buster Sword.
She had her fists clenched as she forced a smile at him. "What is so funny, you porcupine-head?" she demanded.
"Nothing. Now I know how you'll look like when you are going to have a baby in the future. Anyway, let's get going. Just follow my lead, alright?" he asked.
"What are we going to do anyway?" she demanded as he approached her and placed his left arm around her shoulder and firmly gripped her shoulder, surprising her. "GAWDS! Don't do that! You're going to crush my bones!" she snapped impatiently.
"Just act like you're in a hurry and you're about to give birth already, alright?" he asked.
"WHAT?! How should I know how to act like I'm about to give birth already?! I haven't even had a child yet!" she snapped at him.
"Don't you ever watch movies with mommies about to give birth?" he asked in disbelief.
"No." she replied stubbornly.
"Wh…what about seeing women giving birth?" he asked her.
"Nope." She replied while shaking her head.
Zack felt a little dumbfounded. Yuffie pushed him away from herself, "Well what should I do?! I'm not even a mommy yet! I'm not even married… and I've never even had a boyfriend my entire life… and I am still a virgin, alright?!" she snapped impatiently.
Zack chuckled lightly, "You are?" he asked in bewilderment.
She shoved him away from her path as she headed for the door, "Stop staring at me like that…" she muttered miserably before standing on tiptoe to look at the peep lens on the door. She jumped away when the SOLDIER knocked again. "Eeps!!! They're armed and they look so dangerous!!!" she told him. He went over to her. "Just act like you're having a stomachache and you're feeling queasy but you can't vomit… and you've got abdominal cramps! I'm sure you know how it feels to have abdominal cramps because you're a girl?!" he told her as he held her close to him again before opening the door and let out a wail, "What?! What's going on?" he demanded from the SOLDIERs with a native Gongagan accent (imagine that it sounds Spanish).
The SOLDIERs were surprised to see them. Yuffie was already acting like she was about to give birth and she was wailing in pain.
The Second-Class Soldier turned to his comrades. "Are you sure this is the right room?" he asked.
The other Soldiers shrugged. "From what I know, the daughter is single and very young." One of them answered.
"Yeah, that's what I know too." the Second-Class Soldier replied before turning back to Yuffie and Zack.
Zack was frowning at them. "Look what you've done to my wife! Your loud knocking surprised her, and it gave her bad contractions! What if she's about to give birth already?! Is this how you treat tourists?!" he demanded in annoyance.
"Er… we're so sorry, sir. We thought…" the Second-Class Soldier replied rather sheepishly.
"Argh!!! Darling, get me out of here!!! I need a hospital!!!!! I don't like stinky SOLDIERs! AARGH!" Yuffie screeched impatiently.
"You see what you have done to my darling? You make her impatient! Now step out of the way!" Zack snapped rather harshly while pointing an accusing finger at the Second-Class Soldier.
The SOLDIERs stepped away. "Oh… a…alright, alright! Geez." The Second-Class Soldier said as he moved away from the couple.
With that, Zack and Yuffie went together to the elevator. "Stupid local people. They really make me mad!" he said.
"Stop complaining and hurry up!!! I NEED AN EFFING HOSPITAL!!!!!" she wailed as they entered the elevator.
"Foreigners are such whiners…" the Second-Class SOLDIER muttered to himself with an annoyed look on his face before turning to the others. "Why don't you verify from the desk whether they're in the 5th floor or in the 15th floor?!" he demanded.
"Sir, the front desk clearly said that this is the room of Lord Godo's daughter!" Soldier A replied.
"Lord Godo's daughter is single, meaning, she is unmarried. She doesn't have a husband. She doesn't have a child yet! And this is her picture from the file in ShinRa HQ's AVALANCHE records!" The Second Class Soldier explained, showing them the picture of a young lady with short dark brown hair.
Yuffie and Zack got out of the elevator and rushed out from the main entrance, still acting. "Coming through! Coming through!" Zack was yelling.
Yuffie was breathing hard already, huffing and then puffing as she stared worriedly at the other ShinRa Soldiers staring curiously at them.
"Hey, it's past curfew! You can't go out anymore!" one of the Soldier told them.
"But my wife is going to give birth! She needs to go to the hospital!" Zack replied in panic.
Yuffie screeched at the Soldier's face, surprising everyone. "GAWDS!!! What is wrong with the people of this country!!! Can't they see I'm suffering here!!! Oh my gawd!!!!!! If I get a miscarriage, I'm going to murder every single one of your citizens!!! They're so selfish! They're so—…"
"Alright, alright, you may go! Sheesh!" the Soldier said, stepping aside.
Zack squeezed her arm gently, as if telling her, "good job." And nodded his head in gratitude to the Soldier before rushing out of the hotel grounds with Yuffie still wailing and screaming in pain.
"Happy Birthday, Cloud!!!" Aerith greeted happily as she gave him her present accompanied with a kiss and a gentle hug, making him blush.
"Aw, that's so sweet," Sephiroth said with a mocking smile on his face. Cloud just eyed him warningly.
They had just finished eating dinner that Aerith had prepared for that special occasion.
"That meal was one of the best I've ever had!" Marlene said happily.
"Marlene's right, ya foo's! This food gave me more energy to proceed on our mission tomorrow night." Barret told them with a pleased look on his face.
"So we're really pushing through tomorrow?" Lucrecia asked with a curious look on her face before taking a piece of cake from the container. "Goodness, this is already my 5th serving." She muttered. "It means that the girls really did a great job baking the cake." Vincent mentioned.
"Yeah. Around 5, we'll assemble by the entrance to Sector 1 then we'll split." Barret explained.
"5 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon?" Sephiroth asked with a silly smile on his face.
"Afternoon, ya foo'!" Barret snapped at him. Sephiroth just shrugged while stifling a snicker as he forked a piece of cake off his mother's plate and ate it up before she could protest.
"And how do we split?" Tifa asked curiously, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forward in the process while eyeing Barret curiously. She seems to be very interested in the mission along with the others.
"Group One will consist of Sephiroth, Cloud and Vincent. The three of you will head to the laboratory immediately. We will really get rid of that Hojo guy once and for all! Then Group Two will consist of Tifa, Aerith and Elena. They'll stand guard all over the building. I'll be in the area where the Mako Reactors are with Red XIII, and then after we set up the bombs, we'll head upstairs. We will meet you guys up in the President's Office and we will get rid of him too." Barret explained.
"Based on my observation and when I saw the President's schedule earlier…" Sephiroth began, but Elena cut him off, "How'd you manage to see his schedule?" she asked in confusion.
"I climbed up the wall without anybody noticing me. It turns out that I'm already back in shape like before! Mwahahahahaha!" Sephiroth said as he flexed his arm muscles for everyone to see, indicating that he is already as healthy as before. "Uggh…" Lucrecia reacted, shaking her head in shame. The others just raised their eyebrows and stared in disbelief at him.
"Anyway, as I was saying, Rufus's Old Man will have a meeting in the conference room from 5-7 in the evening. We should all be finished in the laboratory and in the Mako Reactors by 6:45, and we'll all go upstairs and wait for the fat guy." Sephiroth explained.
"Then?" Aerith asked.
"We hold him hostage?" Tifa asked.
"No, we get rid of him," Lucrecia chimed in with a deep frown on her face.
"We'll kill him?" Aerith asked in shock.
Marlene was staring at them in disbelief. "Isn't it wrong to kill?" she asked curiously with a fearful look in her eyes.
Nobody knew exactly how to answer to that… but still, Sephiroth gave it a shot: "Bad people should be punished."
They all fell silent.
"Well… you were a bad person, Uncle Sephy." Marlene said softly, her head bowed down but her eyes still looking at him with an unsure look in them.
All eyes turned to Marlene and then to Sephiroth, wondering what kind of reaction he will have. He just stared blankly at the little girl before smiling smugly, "I know. But I have… repented." He looked away and bowed down his head. "President ShinRa did not. Hojo did not. Don Corneo did not." He told them.
"What about Uncle Rufus?" Marlene asked.
They were surprised by how she had referred to Rufus. Uncle.
"What the---?! Whatcha call him?" Barret said out loud in shock while staring unbelievably at his daughter.
"Uncle Rufus. He told me to just call him Uncle." She replied quite proudly.
"Huh? Since when did you start talking to Rufus?" Cloud asked in confusion. He knows that Rufus hasn't even met the little girl before.
"He keeps calling the house whenever you guys are out and I'm home to answer the phone. He's asking if he could talk to…" she covered her mouth and then blinked in awe. "Ooops! I'm not supposed to tell!" she said and blushed while eyeing Tifa, then Cloud, then Sephiroth.
"Oh let me guess," Sephiroth said while eyeing Tifa maliciously.
"Stop staring at me like that! You're giving me the jitters! Are you aware that you were looking at me like that before you slashed my gut?!" she snapped impatiently before she got up and transferred to another seat beside Elena (where Sephiroth could not look at her anymore because he's sitting facing her before she transferred). He just laughed mockingly at her.
"What about Lucrecia? What is she going to do?" Tifa asked, wanting to change the subject.
"She's going with us but she and Marlene are just going to stay in one area in Sector One… just hanging out there in case something happens to Sector 7." Barret explained.
"And…" Cloud began, but was interrupted when they heard the front door slam close and running footsteps. All of them instantly got up. Cloud, Sephiroth and Vincent instantly grabbed hold of their weapons; Elena got hold of her gun and instantly aimed at the doorway from the living room, while Tifa and Aerith shielded Marlene.
Yuffie and Zack entered the scene, surprised at all of them. "?!"
The gang was stunned. "?!"
Tifa gasped. "Yuffie?! Is there something you're not telling us?!" she demanded in awe, looking at Yuffie's tummy.
Silence.
Yuffie instantly reached under the skirt of her dress and removed the pillow from underneath it over her tummy (and no, they didn't see her underwear coz she's wearing her shorts). "Oh… sorry…" she said with a sheepish smile on her face, showing to them the round pillow.
Silence.
Zack just smiled weakly and waved "hi" at everyone in the room.
Cloud instantly growled, "BAAAAAH!!!!!" and raised his Ultima Weapon at him. "AARGH!!! IT'S SO UNFAIR!!!" Zack yelled in sudden panic before hiding behind Yuffie.
Cloud put down his weapon. "Just kidding." He said with a poker-faced expression on his face.
Silence.
Zack wanted to die.
Sephiroth started to laugh.
The others were puzzled.
"What… whatcha foo's doing here?! And how'd you get past the guards?!" Barret demanded in surprise.
"Yeah! It's already past curfew!" Cloud pointed out, offering seats to the two.
"Erh… it's… this…" Yuffie began, showing to them the pillow.
Zack fainted.
"What the--?!" she reacted in confusion and surprise.
"I think you scared him too much, Cloud," Vincent pointed out.
Rufus kept on redialing the number of his Old Man's mobile phone, but nobody was answering. "Bloody hell," he muttered in annoyance before checking the time on his watch. He blinked, realizing that it is 6 in the evening in Junon, while in Midgar, it's already 8:45pm. "He could be at the Honeybee Inn at this moment and his phone's in silent mode and he can't feel it vibrating probably because it's not with him..." He realized before putting down his mobile phone on his bedside table and proceeded with his packing. He just received a message from Heidegger that the Black Death will be used tomorrow at 7 in the evening. He wanted to go back to Midgar early during the next day because he wants to inform Cloud and the others. For some reason he could not contact Cloud's mobile phone anymore… and the landline. It's like his Old Man disconnected all the lines in the lower sectors.
He turned to Dark Nation who was asleep on his bed before looking quite poker-faced at his things. Deep inside, he was beginning to worry.
Sephiroth and Vincent just sat on the former's bed in one corner of the room while eyeing the unconscious Zack lying on the latter's bed.
"Why'd you have to put him on my bed?" Vincent asked softly in monotone as if he couldn't believe what was happening to them at present. They were both stranded on the other bed and did not have the energy to move and get Zack off the room anymore because Aerith instructed that they take Zack to their room so that he could rest and when they attempted to protest, Lucrecia began to nag them about being nice to Zack.
"Question is, why our room?" Sephiroth muttered miserably as he leaned against the wall. "Bloody hell! Where am I going to sleep!?" Vincent asked in confusion.
"The floor?" Sephiroth suggested.
Silence.
"There are no more spare mattresses because they're using it for Yuffie in the girls' room." Vincent replied glumly.
"You can sleep beside me. I don't mind… just the fact that you're my mommy's boyfriend…" Sephiroth told him with silly smile on his face.
"That's it; I'll just stay with your mommy in the other room since she's got her own room, even if it's small…" Vincent began before he got up, but Sephiroth instantly grabbed his hand and restrained him, "NO! Don't leave me here with that!" he begged.
"Why not?" Vincent asked.
"In the Lifestream, he kept on complaining about not being with Aerith. What if that guy wakes up and does the same damn routine? I'll go crazy!!! That's the main reason why I had to send him away from the hospital when we got back here in Gaia!" Sephiroth pointed out.
Vincent just stared unbelievably at him, "I can't believe you did that!" he pointed out.
"That guy is nuts. He's bonkers about Aerith… and when he found out about Cloud and Aerith wanting to meet Cloud… and also finding out about some of his memories getting transferred to Cloud… Goodness… you should see how somewhat obsessed he's become in getting Aerith back to himself!" Sephiroth narrated with an annoyed look on his face.
"I never knew you were concerned about Cloud and Aerith's relationship." Vincent began with a look of awe on his face.
"Well I wasn't… until Zack came along. He's really bothering her in a way… and also bothering me and Rufus, asking things about Aerith from us." Sephiroth ranted.
Vincent just nodded his head slightly while eyeing the unconscious Zack in pity.
To their surprise, Zack stirred while uttering something which to them sounded like "Yuffie". And he slowly opened his eyes, surprised to see Sephiroth and Vincent just seated on the other bed across the one where he's lying and staring strangely at him. He instantly got up as he let out a gasp. "What the--?! Where am I?! Where's Yuffie?" he demanded.
"Chill out, porcupine-head. She's in the other room with Tifa and Marlene." Sephiroth snapped rather irritably at him.
Zack just gaped at them. "Wh… what?" he asked.
"You fainted, Zack." Vincent pointed out as he got up and went over to him, inspecting the paleness of his face. "How are you feeling now?" he asked.
"Uhm… just… fine… is Yuffie alright?" Zack asked with a worried look on his face.
"She's alright. She's already asleep, I guess. It's late." Sephiroth said.
"How late?" Zack asked curiously as he looked around the room, trying to get familiar with his new surroundings. "1 in the morning." Sephiroth explained.
Vincent went back to Sephiroth's bed and sat down on it, but keeping an eye on Zack. "I guess Cloud gave you quite a shock tonight, huh?" he asked.
Zack just nodded rather uncomfortably upon remembering the events that happened earlier that evening. "Uh… yeah… I never expected it… really… uh…" he stammered weakly before he slowly got off the bed and rubbed his forehead with his right palm, "Can I see Yuffie and check if she's alright?" he asked.
"She's alright. She already told us what happened to you guys earlier that's why you had to come here with her wearing a disguise like she's a pregnant woman." Vincent explained.
"Is she alright?" Zack insisted with a worried tone as he eyed them rather helplessly. He was still not feeling well, and Vincent knew it just by looking in his eyes. He looked too tired and still a bit dazed. "She's alright, buck-o. She's with Tifa and Marlene." Sephiroth told him as he crossed his arms. He was getting rather impatient.
But Zack insisted, "Can't she stay here with me? I'm her bodyguard and…" he began, but Sephiroth cut him off, "Ho! Wait a sec, man. You're taking this bodyguard thing too seriously. You sound like another version of Cloud Strife with an Aerith!"
Zack fell silent upon hearing that.
Vincent just cleared his throat, "How long have you been with Yuffie already?" he asked with a kind tone, since he noticed that almost everyone seemed to be mean towards him.
"Around… two years…" Zack said weakly, lowering his gaze to the ground. "I need to see her now… just to make sure she's alright. Please?" he asked softly.
Sephiroth eyed him for a moment with a stern look on his face before gesturing for the door. "Go ahead." He said. Zack looked up at him and smiled in relief. "Thanks, boss." He said as he got up.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at him, "Boss?" he asked in confusion.
"Hey, you were our commander way back in SOLDIER, remember?" Zack asked, smiling at him before staggering to the door. He opened it and got out of the room, shut the door and went on his own way to the other room.
Sephiroth turned to Vincent. "Go to sleep now before the guy returns." He instructed.
Vincent just shrugged and went over to his own bed and plopped down. "Did you just make him go so that he'll leave the room for good and while he's gone we can hog his space?" he asked.
Sephiroth just snickered evilly and got up from his own bed, rushed to the door and bolted it. "Hell yeah." He said before plopping down on his bed again and covered himself with a blanket. "G'night." He said.
Tifa instantly opened her eyes, glaring sleepily at the door when she heard someone knocking and then saying, "Yuffie, can I come in?"
She just grunted and turned to her right side, putting a pillow over her head to muffle the sound. She envied Marlene who wasn't such a light sleeper compared to her.
Impatiently, Tifa removed the pillow from over her head and said rather sarcastically, "Yuffie, I think it's for you,"
Silence.
"Yuffie?" she turned to the other side to check if the Wutaian girl is still sleeping on the mattress on the floor beside her bed… and realized that there was no one there. "Bloody brilliant…" she muttered miserably, thinking that Yuffie moves a lot while sleeping, so she must've ended up under the bed. Since she's so sleepy and tired, she just shrugged it off and decided to sleep again despite the knocking from outside.
Meanwhile, Zack was wondering why nobody was answering. Carefully and discreetly, he opened the door and peeked inside, "Yuffie?" he whispered softly, hoping to get a response this time.
Tifa and Marlene were sound asleep on separate beds; the bed of the former by the window on the right side from where Zack is standing, and the latter's bed opposite the former's. A mattress was on the floor on the space between the two beds. The mattress had a pillow and a messed up blanket but there was no Yuffie. "Where is she anyway?" he thought to himself, starting to worry. He frowned slightly while thinking, "What if… she went off to go to her dad?" and stepped out of the room, closing the door and then rushing back to Vincent and Sephiroth's room. He tried to open the door but realized that he had been locked out by either one of those… "Most likely Sephiroth…" he thought miserably before shaking his head in dismay and decided to just go downstairs. "So unfair…" he was muttering in despair. He went straight to the front door, but he stopped when saw Yuffie from the corner of his eye just lying on the couch and sleeping there while the TV is on the news channel. The news consisted of the "missing" Lord Godo and his daughter. He raised an eyebrow as he listened to the news. He realized that ShinRa must have reported that Lord Godo is missing so that nobody would suspect that they were the ones who held the man hostage. Carefully, he switched off the television but when he did so, Yuffie woke up. "Huh?" she sleepily looked at Zack and smiled gently, "Oh… hello." And closed her eyes again.
He shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe you're sleeping here?!" he told her.
She just yawned. "Tifa snores." She muttered.
"No she doesn't. I went inside and…" he trailed off. She instantly sat up and stared sleepily but suspiciously at him. "You're over Aerith but you're now after Tifa?!" she demanded.
"NO! I was checking on you to see if you're alright! I was worried about you, you know?" he asked. But she just lied back down on the couch again and closed her eyes comfortably.
He silently observed her. He just shrugged and looked outside the window, seeing some ShinRa Soldiers patrolling around the area as if searching for something. He instantly closed the drapes. "Shit…" he muttered before deciding to just sleep in the living room and guard Yuffie in case those SOLDIERs did an ambush or something… but Red XIII was occupying the other couch opposite the one where she was seated. "IT'S SO UNFAIR!" he wailed in agony.
Red XIII opened his eyes and growled at him, "Pipe down, will you?" and fell asleep again.
Zack muttered while staring miserably at him, "It's so unfair…" he muttered before turning to Yuffie. He cringed. "If I sleep beside her, they might think I'm a lecher." He thought. He just shrugged and sat on the floor and decided to lie down there… but it only took him a few moments before he realized that he was itching because of the dust mites… or maybe Red XIII's fleas, he wasn't sure, but he just got up and decided to lift Yuffie's head slightly but gently for a moment as he sat down on the couch where she was sleeping and then just let her head rest on his lap. He got the pillow and placed it behind his head and leaned backwards on the couch. In a moment, he fell asleep.
The next day when Zack woke up, it was already past nine in the morning and Yuffie was not there anymore. He turned to the couch opposite to him where Red XIII had been sleeping last night, but the big red animal wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was Lucrecia knitting socks while Vincent was drinking some tea and eating crumpets. Sephiroth was seated beside Vincent (Vincent's seated in the middle of Lucrecia and Sephiroth) and surfing channels.
Zack turned to Tifa who was seated on a chair which she had probably dragged from the living room and she's reading the entertainment section of the magazine while Cloud was reading over her shoulder, remarking, "She shouldn't have done that. Now her life's ruined."
Tifa turned to Cloud with a ridiculous look on her face, "I knew it! She's your favorite actress!" she pointed out.
"Whassat?" Sephiroth asked.
"It's nothing," Cloud told him with a rather embarrassed look on his face.
"It's Cloud's favorite actress. She hooked up with President ShinRa. It's so disgusting!" Tifa pointed out.
Lucrecia and Sephiroth both said "Yuck" in unison before proceeding back to their activities.
Cloud just moved away from Tifa and grabbed himself another chair from the dining room and seated himself beside the couch where Sephiroth, Lucrecia and Vincent were seated.
Zack noticed that nobody's sitting beside him… "How come it's like you guys are avoiding me?" he demanded, feeling rather insulted.
Nobody answered.
"It's so unfair!!!" he wailed.
Tifa flipped onto the local news section of the newspaper… and saw the headlines, "Rufus is here!" she read out loud.
"Great. Just in time when we need him." Cloud reacted.
"So we'll get help from him too later?" Sephiroth asked.
"He'll probably help us without us telling him anyway, I just know," Tifa said with a wink before proceeding to read and looked at Rufus's picture taken by the media when the chopper landed earlier. "He arrived rather early today… I thought he'd be arriving late this afternoon," Lucrecia pointed out.
"He looks rather different. Look at his hair," Tifa pointed out, showing the photograph to the others.
"What did he do to his hair?" Cloud asked in awe while looking at Rufus's picture.
Zack couldn't see well so he just said, "Why? Is he bald?" he asked.
All eyes turned to him, "No. His hair's not gelled back." Tifa pointed out.
"Oh." Zack said softly before he got up and stretched. "Where's Yuffie?" he asked.
"Upstairs bonding with Aerith," answered Tifa blankly.
"Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet?"
Aerith sighed as she twisted Yuffie's locks gently. "Yuffie, if you stop squirming so much, we'd be finished sooner…"
"But my neck is starting to feel sore," Yuffie protested, moving her neck a bit.
"We're almost done. Look, your hair is a bit prettier now." Aerith turned the rotating chair Yuffie was sitting on so that she faced the mirror. Yuffie gasped at her reflection. "Wow!" she giggled, tilting her head sideways. She certainly looked different; even though Aerith wasn't finished braiding her hair, it looked pretty already. "… Wow!" she repeated. "I think I fell in-love with myself back there."
Aerith laughed. "Almost done."
Yuffie tried her best not to move. "Does braiding hair really take that long?"
"Well… I'm making yours a bit unique," Aerith replied as she made the final twist. "Ah! There you go!" and moved away from Yuffie, grabbing a hand mirror and handed it to her. "Check if it's just the way you want it." She instructed.
Yuffie got up and turned her back to the mirror while holding the hand mirror and looking at the back of her head with it… and her eyes blinked in awe.
Aerith giggled. "You like the color green, right? That's why I used green ribbons for your hair." She said happily.
"Whoa… this is so cool!" Yuffie said in total happiness. "What's this hairdo called again?" she asked.
"Twist. Why do you want me to do that to your hair anyway? If people were to tell us apart just by looking at our backs minus our height difference, they might not be able to guess right away who is who!" Aerith pointed out with a silly smile on her face.
"Well… I just thought I'd like something else to happen with my hair since it's so long and…" Yuffie stammered before putting down the hand mirror on the dresser while avoiding the look from Aerith's eyes.
"Is this the first time you had your hair long?" Aerith asked. "Well… not really. My mommy had long hair when I was a little girl, and she didn't want to cut mine, so it was really long… up to my hips! But I don't tie it. My mom just puts a headband around my head…. It's actually the bandanna that I wear around my head all the time. Nyuk nyuk." Yuffie explained, and then laughing in the end. "I see… but why'd you cut it?" Aerith asked in curiosity as she sat down on the bed.
Yuffie bowed down her head for a moment, her pleased smile softening. "She died. And my dad said that I should take my training seriously… and since it's hard for a ninja to move around with very long hair, I had to cut it and maintain it that way." She said before going to her friend. "Thanks so much, Aerith!" she said happily.
"And I think you'd better keep your hair that way for tonight's mission." Aerith pointed out with a wink. Yuffie laughed gaily, "Yeah…" and proceeded to the door. "I'm hungry. I think I'll eat again!" she said.
"I'll be downstairs in a moment. I just have to check on Cloud's dirty laundry and bring it downstairs with me. Will you help me prepare lunch today?" Aerith asked as she went to Cloud's side of the bed.
"Well… if you don't mind Wutaian food, I can cook. Nyuk nyuk nyuk." Yuffie said with a wink before stepping outside the room, headed for the stairs and descended quickly while yelling, "Whee!!! Guys! Guys! Check me out!!!"
All eyes turned to the girl who just came from upstairs. Cloud was the first one to react, "Aerith, what are you wearing--?!" he trailed off when he realized that it wasn't Aerith.
Yuffie giggled. "You like it?" she asked happily while jumping around.
Everyone fell silent.
"For a moment, I thought Aerith shrunk!" Sephiroth reacted with a look of disbelief on his face.
"It looks nice on you, Yuffie. Aerith did that?" Tifa asked with an impressed look on her face.
"Yup! Ain't she great?" Yuffie asked happily.
Zack just stared in awe at her.
Aerith came down the stairs with a basket of Cloud's dirty clothes. "You sound so excited, Yuffie," she said.
Zack frowned upon seeing Aerith, and then turned to Yuffie. His thoughts were shouting, "WHY?!" but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud so he just sat still and said nothing while listening to Lucrecia and the rest remarking nicely about Yuffie's new hairdo.
Then everyone was quiet and staring at him, as if they're waiting for him to say something about Yuffie's hairdo. He blinked in awe. "Wh… what? What did I do? Is there something wrong with my face?" he asked in confusion.
Yuffie just frowned, feeling her heart sink. She lowered her gaze to the ground as Sephiroth told him, "Aren't you going to say something nice about Yuffie's hair?"
She just walked away, going to the kitchen where Aerith had gone to. They heard her say, "Step aside, Aerith. I'll cook lunch today!"
Lunchtime consisted of authentic Wutaian cuisine (in our world, it could be a combination of Japanese and Chinese dishes). Everyone enjoyed the food even though they were really surprised that Yuffie can actually cook something like those. Zack was very quiet all throughout the meal. For some reason, he could not express his thoughts about the things going on around him. He felt so confused… and he has never felt so confused like the way he is at that moment.
After lunch, Sephiroth decided to help Barret prepare the explosives and the weapons that they are going to use for the mission that night. Cloud and Vincent also offered to help, but Zack just stayed in one place, observing them as they worked. Lucrecia also helped the men prepare the explosives by using her scientific knowledge in making bombs.
"Hey hedgehog! Don't just sit there. Help us out here!" Sephiroth snapped at Zack, surprising him.
Zack jerked slightly as if he was under a trance until his ex-commander from SOLDIER actually talked to him. "Uh… right… yeah. Sure." And smiled weakly as he walked rather shakily to them. "So… what do I need to do?" he asked weakly.
Barret and Vincent stared strangely at him. "Are you alright?" the latter asked curiously.
Before Zack could answer, they heard Yuffie calling out, "Zacky!!!" while running towards them. Zack turned around to look at Yuffie. "Yeah?" he asked casually, but the look on his face seemed troubled.
Yuffie ran to him and grabbed his right hand, "C'mon! I want you to train with me! Get your buster sword and chase me around with it and I'll throw shuriken blades at you and you dodge them while trying to attack me! Heehee!" she said excitedly.
"Wh…wha?" he stammered, but couldn't find the words to say further what he wanted to say.
"C'mon!" Yuffie said stubbornly.
Zack just stared at her.
She slowly let go of him as her smile faded away. "A…alright… if you don't want to… I'm sorry if I'm bothering you," she said softly before running away from them and just decided to go upstairs. Zack attempted to call out her name to stop her, but no sound came out from his mouth. His throat felt so dry.
"Whoa… is that Yuffie? She seems different!" Barret remarked in awe before turning to Zack. "What did you do to her?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Lucrecia asked.
"She's the most stubborn girl I know! Tha' foo' won't stop 'til she gets wut she wants! And she juz left, changin' her mind about training without botherin' dis hedgehog foo' further over here?! I must be dreamin'." He replied in disbelief before proceeding with his work.
"What's wrong with you? You haven't been speaking much to her ever since this morning," Cloud pointed out to Zack all of a sudden. The question struck something in Zack which made him feel a bit offended. "I… I try to… but… there seems to be nothing to say…" he said softly, feeling uncomfortable.
"What do you mean?" Vincent asked.
Zack just stared blankly at them.
Vincent looked away before saying, "Sometimes, the best and the loudest words can come in the form of silence."
Sephiroth laughed mockingly at him, "Mwahahahaha! That has got to be the cheesiest line I've ever heard of!" he pointed out.
"Oh, there's plenty more where that came from," Lucrecia told him with a wink. Vincent looked unbelievably at her as she giggled and said, "Vincent used to write me lots of love poetry. He's very romantic indeed."
Sephiroth tried to suppress his laughter while staring unbelievably at Vincent. Vincent just stared at him with a blank facial expression on his face but his eyes were saying, "Just try to insult me…"
Sephiroth just shrugged and raised his hands to him as if expressing surrender and turned away, biting his lower lip to stop himself from smiling. He really wanted to laugh.
Zack just decided to walk away.
"Hey foo'. Don't forget! We'll assemble at 5:00!!!" Barret called out to him.
Rufus impatiently checked his watch. It read 5:00. Ever since he arrived in ShinRa, he had been called to the Conference room with the other executives and the Turks by his father. No one was allowed to go out or make phone calls. President ShinRa required everyone to be inside the conference room while the SOLDIERs are installing the Black Death bombs in the lower sectors that needed to be wiped out.
Rufus felt desperate deep inside; he wished he could do something… but it was too late when he found out that the Black Death had been completed just the other night before he arrived in Midgar. "Bloody hell… if something bad happens to them, I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself…" he thought silently with a stiff look on his face as he kept his eyes on Dark Nation who was just seated by his side and staring worriedly at him.
"Rufus, get your cat out of here!" President ShinRa snapped impatiently at him.
Rufus jerked slightly before turning to his father, "She's been here ever since you locked us up in here but it's only now that you've noticed that she's here?" he asked in annoyance.
"Your cat has no business here." President ShinRa told him.
"Why do you have to lock us up here anyway?" Heidegger asked in confusion.
"Hahahahaha! Because Black Death is being installed. All of us should be here so that we can be sure that nobody outside the walls of ShinRa could blame us. They'll think that we're just having a meeting here and that AVALANCHE was the one who made those. The people will blame them for the death of all the people from Sectors 5 to 7." Hojo explained.
Rufus just turned to Dark Nation. Dark Nation wiggled her nose and said "Meowrrrr…" She sounded displeased about something.
Suddenly, Rufus had an idea… he got his notepad and started writing something on it. President ShinRa was talking to the others that's why he didn't notice what his son was doing... and in a nick of time, Rufus was finished. He carefully tore off the page and folded it and stuck it in Dark Nation's collar. He patted her head gently and stroked her ebony black fur. "Find AVALANCHE. Give to any of them the note." Was his instruction through a soft and low whisper as he leaned closer to his cat, which sounded like a vague murmur to the rest. President ShinRa stopped talking and stared at his son curiously. "What?" he asked.
Rufus gently slapped Dark Nation's side and she got on her feet and went to the door. "I just told her to go out just like what you wanted." he reasoned.
With that, President ShinRa began to talk to the others again.
Zack and Yuffie are Group 4 in Barret's plan. Just like Group Two (consisting of Aerith, Tifa and Elena), they are assigned to patrol around the building, but since they were a bit unfamiliar with the whole place, they just decided to join forces with the second group.
The five of them were already inside the building by 6:00, equipped with their own Materia (except for Zack and Elena) and weapons.
"I think we should go to the surveillance room first." Tifa suggested.
"There's no time for that. We'll just kill those who will attempt to stop us." Zack suggested.
"But that will just worsen the situation. If word reaches the President, the plan is ruined," Tifa pointed out.
"Zack is right. There's no time for…" Yuffie trailed off when Aerith, Elena and Tifa stared unbelievably at her but they weren't able to say something at first. They had been noticing that something was going on between Yuffie and Zack but they were not sure what it was.
Gathering enough courage, Tifa just blurted out, "Yuffie, you've changed."
Silence.
"So? I'll be 18 this November. I have every right to change… to mature…" Yuffie muttered before turning to Zack.
"But you don't sound like yourself!" Aerith pointed out.
Yuffie just stomped her foot impatiently. "So what?!" she snapped angrily.
"Meowrrr…"
Silence.
"What was that?" Zack asked in confusion.
"It sounded like… a big cat…" Aerith said softly with a worried look on her face. What if it was a monster from the laboratory?
"OH MY GAWD!!! Let's run for it!!!" Yuffie said before rushing off. Zack followed after her, but the others remained still. Tifa turned around and looked at one corner when she heard the click of a gun. A SOLDIER was already aiming his gun at them.
Aerith gasped slightly and moved backward a little.
Elena frowned slightly and attempted to get her gun from her pocket, but the SOLDIER warned them not to move or else he'll shoot.
"Bloody hell…" Tifa muttered to herself. Then, from behind the SOLDIER, a big black thing just pounced out of nowhere and landed on top of him, scratching his hands badly so that he would let go of the gun.
"Dark Nation!" Elena exclaimed in relief.
It was a chance for the girls to knock the SOLDIER unconscious before he could call for back-up. Tifa made sure she hit him hard with her fist and he got knocked-out instantly. Aerith cast a sleep spell on the SOLDIER just to really make sure that he wouldn't wake up from Tifa' blow immediately and remain asleep for as long as they are there.
"Darkie, what are you doing here?" Elena asked, patting the big animal's head.
Dark Nation sniffed her, then Aerith, then Tifa. The big panther-like animal gazed up at Tifa and sniffed her again. "Meowrr?" and purred happily.
Tifa mindlessly clutched the locket that she was wearing. She had been wearing it for two years already. She received it as a Christmas Present/thank you present from Rufus. When she opened it, there was a picture of a woman with jet black hair in braids and blue eyes. She wondered who it was but forgot about it afterwards. Since then she never opened it again but just wore it. She just makes sure that her friends or anybody else could not notice the ShinRa logo etched onto its silver front.
"I think she likes you," Elena told Tifa with a relieved smile on her face.
Tifa just smiled weakly as the big cat guided her hand to its collar until she was able to see the folded paper. She frowned slightly before she took the note, unfolded it and read it out loud for her friends to hear, "Black Death is being installed in Sectors 5-7. Explosion will be at 7:00. Evacuate ASAP. Rufus."
All of them felt their hairs rise to their ends…
Black Death.
"Oh no… People are going to die…" Aerith said softly with a worried look on her face.
"I thought… we've disposed of the formula?!" Elena asked in confusion.
"Hojo could've had a back-up…" Tifa trailed off when more SOLDIERs arrived. "Damn!" she reacted in surprise.
"Get them!" the commander told the other SOLDIERs.