A/N: A huge thank you to Noacat, who gave me my first review for this story. Ya sent me into conniptions of glee, kiddo! You're also the reason why I'm breaking my five-reviews-per-chapter rule, since you seem so interested (recommend it to people, please!) And yes, this is after Aeris is dead. Personally, I found her annoying, but necessary, a cleric in a D&D party miles away from undead, if you catch my drift. As to where this is going, well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

As always, nothing belongs to me. My cat owns everything, including my soul.

Chapter 2

Journeys

Once the group was out of Junon, they moved fast. Red loped happily alongside the chocobos, darting here and there as things drew his interest. Cid rode a gold chocobo, whose name seemed to change with his rider's mood, though it didn't seem to bother the cheerful bird. Vincent had a black, called Adam, who was quite friendly—and spoiled rotten. Diane rode double with Vincent, not having a bird of her own, and not wanting to suffer Cid's incessant smoking and verbal abuse. Though, Vincent thought, she might have two before this trip was over. She fed Adam's ego constantly with petting and praise, and gave Cid's bits of fruit and other treats, endearing both to her.

As Cid predicted, she had no weapons, other than pepper spray. The pilot raised his eyebrows, and Diane muttered in an almost embarrassed explanation, "Not everyone can take 'no' for an answer…"

"You need a babysitter, Doc," Cid grumbled, realizing he and Vincent would have to protect her from everything.

"So do you," she retorted, pointedly eyeing the frayed flight jacket.

Abruptly, he grinned. "Howabout this: I'm you're babysitter, and you're mine!"

"Deal."

One night, as the group was resting, sitting around a fire, Cid said, "So Doc, you know about us. How about a bit about you?"

Diane looked edgy, fiddling with a frizzy bit of red hair. "Cid, I'd really rather not…"

"C'mon, fair's fair!" he protested.

"You sound like a child, Cid."

"You're damn right I do, and I'm twice as annoying as any kid."

"Grow up," she suggested.

"Cough it up, and then we can sleep."

"Will it shut you up?"

"Yeah, I suppose…"

She was tired, eyes gritty from dust and exhaustion. If she could shut Cid up with a story—honestly, she wished he were as quiet as Vincent sometimes—she would, if only to sleep. "Fine."

Red leaned against her, purring quietly, dozing, even as she started to speak. Vincent alternated from watching the woman to their surroundings, always on his guard, and Cid leaned closer, waiting.

She took a deep breath, composing herself. At last, she said one sentence that was the damnation of her existence.

"If Professor Gast was the father of the Jenova Project, I am its mother."

Vincent looked up sharply, other emotions hidden behind the red cloak he wore. Cid's reaction, though, was more than enough to make due for Vincent's hidden thoughts.

His eyes stared in shock, mouth open, working, trying to summon sound and words. Finally, he did. "What the fuck?" he demanded.

She shrugged. Even Red was looking at her with slightly accusing eyes, waiting to hear her explanation. "When I was younger, I was in medical school. Science was only starting to worry about Mako, and the ill effects it could have, so we were testing it on rats in one of the student labs. I had missed some school, so I had to make up the time somewhere, and the professors decided that I should watch over the Mako rats, observing. It meant a sixteen hour shift with only a few short breaks, but I needed the time.

"I noticed that rats exposed to extreme amounts of Mako died rapidly, often with bad deformities. However, those that survived were faster, stronger, and smarter than the rest, almost on human intelligence. Super rats, all because of Mako saturation. At that time, I was an undergraduate, trying for my master's. I needed to write a paper on something, and I chose those super rats, calling it the Mako Theory. It was laughed at during that time, but later, once real doctors, not students, validated it, it became the basis of the Soldier program."

"What the hell's that got to do with the Jenova Project?" Cid demanded.

"I'll tell you, at some point, but not now. I'm tired, and I want to tell that story properly." And, she thought, I don't want you to despise me.

"Now you listen here, you little—" Cid began.

"That is more than enough for one night, Highwind," Vincent said quietly. "We should rest, if we want to reach Nibelheim by tomorrow evening."

Muttering ungracious words, Cid rolled up in his tent, thinking over the new information about his companion. She's almost as secretive as Vampy… he thought as he drifted to sleep.

A/N: Yeah, it's me again. I know, short chapter, not much happens, but I've started typing the next one already. Well, the next two, but one is optional read only—no, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter!—since it's a bunch of scientific babble. I should have the next few chapters up within a few days, since it's almost holiday break and I can get lots of writing done then. Oh, feel free to review, and I'll include a love note for you at the beginning of the chapter!