A/N: This is a BIG chapter. Not in size, it's fairly small that way. But something MASSIVE gets revealed that's been hovering round ever since the gang first arrived in Alexandria. The shrewd/ British amongst you may have spotted it and wondered why nothing happened about it. THIS is it!!! Plus Renne features again, who is going to be very angsty later on.

I've got this whole thing about HIM after listening to the acoustic version of 'Funeral Of Hearts' which ROCKS!!! Now I'm saving up to buy the album 'And Love Said No', which is a bit like their Greatest Hits. But how the hell do you pronounce Ville Valo? I have a theory it's like Billy Halo, but it's Finnish so that could be completely wrong. He has the greenest eyes ever...

I finished FFVII for the second time (but still couldn't be bothered to bring my chars up to a level where they could fight Ruby/ Emerald Weapon) and I think it was harder than I remember, even though I did loads more leveling up this time. The ending is really predictable, though. I mean, Sephiroth even SAID that was going to happen. That was the basis of his entire plan! And it leaves too many loose ends, i.e. Are Cloud and Aeris reunited? Does Yuffie get to keep the Materia? etc.. I also watched the bit after the credits (which took ages) and I only then realised that that is where Moombas (FFVIII) come from! They are so much like Red XIII! I can't believe I didn't notice it before...

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I got a few comments lately, but it was no- where like enough for me to really be bothered enough to keep putting this on the Net for much longer. Also, I'm getting a few comments saying, 'you could do more'. That ISN'T HELPING!!! I need CONSTRUCTIVE criticism! So, y'all better start being more helpful or I'll build up a HUGE cliffhanger and leave it there...

"I'm standing by the river

But the water doesn't flow

It boils with every poison

You can think of."

Road To Hell, Chris Rea

"... far did he fall?"

"...been at least one hundred feet."

"How on Gaia did he survive...?"

"...same way he survived...fall into the Iifa Tree."

"...how was that?"

"...I don't know."

"The dragon..."

"Don't tell... break it the right way..."

Kuja's vision blurred into colour. He was in Alexandria Castle Infirmary again, with Doctor Tot, Zidane, Demeyra and Garnet hovering around his bed.

"What happened?"

Zidane glanced at Tot. "We're not sure, but we think you fell from your dragon."

Kuja sat bolt upright. "What happened to the dragon?"

Garnet calmed him down. "Don't worry, it's quite safe. It mainly stays around this area."

"How did you find me?"

Zidane smiled and tapped his forehead. "Genome senses." he said. "Luckily, you weren't on the other side of the world or something, or finding you would have taken a lot longer. We nearly lost you."

"How long have I been unconscious?" Kuja asked.

Tot cleared his throat. "After you had been gone a week, we began searching for you. Two days later, we found you on the Forgotten Continent. The snows had almost covered you. We brought you back here in the Hilda Garde 2. You've been in a coma for two weeks."

"We all thought you wouldn't make it." said Demeyra in a small voice.

Zidane sat down on the edge of the bed. "Kuja," he started, then took a deep breath and tried again. "When the dragon... fell on top you..." he broke off and bit his lip, tears shining in his eyes.

"It completely smashed both of your legs." Garnet continued, her eyes cast down.

Kuja didn't understand at first. The sentence simply reverberated around his brain, waiting for something to connect to. Then, suddenly...

He got it.

"B-both my legs... smashed?" Kuja started. Did he say that? How could he say anything at a time like this? And the voice sounded so... alien to him. Was it really his own?

Zidane nodded. "I'm sorry, Kuja."

Garnet picked something up from a nearby table and carried it towards him tentatively, as if afraid he might bite. "We... we found these..."

In front of Kuja she laid the three feathers he had once worn in his hair. The objects that had once epitomised everything about him, and he had doted on them. Even during those terrible moments in the Iifa Tree, he had kept them neat as best he could. Now they lay in front of him brokenly, with parts missing and kinks along its centre.

Just like Kuja.

Sobs racked Kuja's body as he buried his face in his hands. Demeyra, also with tears trickling down her cheeks, put her arms around him.

Kuja felt someone- a woman- put their fingers under his chin and raise his head. Kuja looked up and Renne was, sat on the bed in front of him, though she weighed nothing.

"Renne!" he exclaimed.

"Kuja." She inclined her head. "You friends will not be able to see me. I did not plan for their presence. However, something much more important is at hand; you remembered. You remembered what it was to fly by flying. So you must remember Phiran's connection to your past in the same manner."

"How?" Kuja asked.

Renne shook her head. "I cannot say."

Kuja frowned. "What is holding you back, Renne? Why can't you talk freely with me?"

Renne looked left and right, as if she was expecting someone to come bursting in through the door. "Again, it is difficult to say without being overheard. But... there is... a person... who... does not wish for me to communicate with you." Renne thought for a minute. "Be wary of this person. They will try and overthrow you however they can. But before you can do anything else, you must remember what Phiran was before."

"How can I do anything in this state?" he cried. "Both my legs have been completely crushed by my own dragon. I shall never fly, or fight, or even walk ever again!"

"I know. And I am sorry I cannot help more. There are three people near to me, one of which you know very well, who are trying to... escape. Thy will reach you soon, I hope, then you shall have a new ally."

"What about-"

"I'm sorry, Kuja." She said. "I cannot hold this connection much longer. If you want to know the truth, look under-"

The image of Renne faded from view and Doctor Tot's nasal voice pierced his ears.

"...message from Renne. Don't interfere."

"Renne came again." Kuja informed them.

"What did she say on this occasion, Kuja?" Doctor Tot inquired, pulling a notebook and pencil out from his jacket. Kuja told them what Renne had said, whilst Doctor Tot scribbled down notes furiously.

"There's something else." He told them. "Renne said I had to 'look under' something to know the truth. And then I felt this appear under my pillow." He reached underneath his pillow and pulled out an ornate silver- handled mirror. All at once, everyone except Kuja screamed. Zidane leapt forward and attempted to snatch the mirror from Kuja's hands, but instead knocked Kuja, who let go of the mirror. The looking glass flew across the room and smashed into the wall, where it splintered into thousands of fragments and scattered over the bed.

There was a stunned silence. All eyes turned to Kuja, who was staring dumbly at his own reflection in the splinters of glass, some of which had covered his face in tiny cuts. His hair had lost its shiny lustre, turning grey. Kuja tugged at it gently and a tuft fell out into his hand. His skin was covered in lines, and his eyes were dull and rheumy.

"...I'm... old..."