At last her luck had changed and as she walked into Kalm, one of the first people she saw was Zack. He was haggling with a vegetable stall owner over the price of the items he wanted to buy. First thing first, she started running towards him and took a deep breath.
"ZZAAAAAAAK!" she screamed as she launched herself through the air to slam into his chest as he turned towards her in shock. They both fell to the ground in a tumble. Sitting up finally after hugging him firmly, laughing cheerfully, "Look! I got it! I got it!" she bounced on his stomach a few times before leaping to her feet.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Hey- I can understand you!" he pointed at her as he gathered himself together and got to his feet.
Grinning broadly, she replied, "Yes, figured out how to control that. All the better! Now, Phase Two."
Nodding Zack turned towards the vendor again, "Uh, sorry, haven't seen her in a while. It was fifteen, right? Right, thanks." He dropped the Gil into the man's hand, took his vegetables and turned with Katy, heading towards the inn. "What took you so long?"
Sighing, Katy ran her hands through her hair. "I can't believe I was beaten by a wall! In any case, I had to recover from that. Hojo took me to his apartment, I waited around there for a while, took the chance to escape when it came and hurried off to find out where you guys had went. Aerith IS here, right? And Elmyra?" She waited till Zack nodded. The knot of tension in her stomach eased. "Well, I had to seduce Rufus and get him to let me into the tower, came pretty close to getting caught. He was on to me from the start I think, but I guess he thought it would be fun to try and charm me for real. God- being that close to him made me so sick... I miss Sephy!" she whimpered the last bit, wrapping her arms around herself.
Awkwardly, Zack patted her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll get him back. The others were really worried about you." As he spoke, they stepped into the inn and Zack led the way into the kitchen. "We've been helping out around the place to help pay for our room. Aerith cooks, I go out and buy stuff and Cloud does manual labor. Jessie and Elmyra clean. The keeper here is old and can't do it all himself. The dog ran off soon as we landed, not sure where he went."
"Who're you talking to-?" Aerith's asked as she turned towards the door, her entire front covered in flour, hair dusted with it as well. It hadn't really recovered from the black. Katy winced a bit. "KATY!" she breathed, clasping her hands together with a puff of white which she coughed from.
Katy grinned, "Don't bother hugging me, even though I need a bath. I got it," she pulled the bag from her pocket, like some trophy. "But I'll give a full version of my exploits later when everyone's gathered. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to get a bath and a nap... Are there any strawberries around here? Or chocolate sauce? You've got no idea how much I've been craving that. It's driving me nuts!" With that, she turned away and tottered from the room. Zack left his purchase on the counter and went after her, leading her up to their room.
She stopped in the middle of the room, then looked at him, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. "See you later," she finally decided upon.
Katy rubbed her hands as she finished the more extensive recount of her adventures in Midgar, the hand of Jenova sealed in a box Zack had bought for that very purpose. He'd been assured that it was sound proof too, but Katy had taken the further precaution of casting a backwards silence spell on it. Even if hands didn't have ears...
"Now, for the fun part."
"Katy, I really hate when you say that. Don't say that," Zack interrupted immediately, covering his ears.
She laughed brightly at him, still drunk from her final victory. "Sorry, I like being sarcastic." They looked blankly at her and she shook her head, focusing on not paying attention to what they heard. "In any case, we've successfully completed Quest One, now, my little heroes. We go to Quest Two."
Cloud shifted, perhaps a bit uncomfortably. "What IS the next part?"
Katy took a breath. "I'm not sure how many shots we'll get at this, I thought we'd only have one chance to get Jenova into bite sized bits in the first place but a second chance made itself available." Giving a brief shake of her head, she smiled, "So, lets give it our all, and if we screw up, then we'll just try again later. For now, we just head north. We're going to that town near the Crater. I forgot its name..."
"You mean Snowy Village?" Aerith supplied, perhaps a bit too cheerfully.
A moment passed, then Katy smiled in return, "Yes." The single word had dropped out of her translation spell but those who had been in contact with her long enough knew that English phrase at the least. Clearing her throat, Katy figured her falter had been sufficiently covered and after closing her eyes briefly, she switched back into her half-awareness that allowed her to speak with them. "Snowy village- though I thought it was something like Icicle Village." She shook her head, "Unimportant either way," she waved a hand, "You know what I mean. Ah tho, I have a slight detour I'd like to make. It has something to do with what should have happened and what has happened." She gave a smile, fingering the delicate necklace she seemed to have acquired in her time away from the group. "We'll have to move faster now."
Elmyra had been unusually silent, staring down at the floor for quite some time, thus it startled those near her when she spoke, "I think... I'll be staying here." She lifted her head and smiled, "I'm too old to do this sort of thing and I'm really not sure what help I could possibly be."
Katy looked her over, finally nodding, "I understand," they exchanged a smile and Elmyra withdrew from the room. The Cetra's eyes moved around the room, "Anyone else?" she asked invitingly. "Just so you know, I'm scared shitless too. I'd dreamed of doing things like this before, but now that it's happening... I really don't think Adventuring is all that fantastic. It's terrifying as hell, but I'm not just going to let some other lunatic fuck everything up..."
Jessie swallowed and stood, her eyes were large, "I'm sorry," she said softly, "But ... I just can't."
Again, Katy nodded, "Alright. Still friends?" Jessie nodded and they exchanged a hug before the girl left the room. That was back down to her original group.
Cloud glanced around nervously then started to stand- "YOU! sit your ass down," Katy pointed at him. He choked on something and fell back into place.
"But you said-"
Katy shook her head, "You've got it in you, Cloud, you could be great. You're just too pussy to try." She smiled slyly, "We'll just have to work at it more, then, break you in." He looked ill.
Softly, Zack began to laugh, shaking his head, "So I guess that means Aerith and I can't leave either?"
Her eyes turned towards them, wide, frightened. "Not that we were going to," Aerith put in with a smile, "I can't abandon another Cetra in her time of need."
A smile stole across Katy's lips and she nodded, "Thank you." She rubbed her hand on her stomach. Had it only been a month. God, time was slipping away so fast! "How far do you think we can get today?"
"You want to leave now?" Cloud asked, still looking uncomfortable in light of the pronouncement that he could and would be a Hero. "Kalm doesn't have a harbor, so we'd have to go to Junon to get anywhere- or Midgar and steal a plane."
Katy nodded, "There anyone we could rent Chocobos from here? Or all out buy? Or hell, steal?" Zack looked thoughtful. "I don't much like the last option but you've gotta do what you gotta do and this is a pretty fucked up world right now. No one will notice in the chaos probably." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Or on third thought... Look for some birds around town, but don't get them just yet, let me try something first. We'll leave in the morning."
With that, she stood and left the room, rubbing her stomach. Aerith and Zack followed down to the first floor, but only Zack followed her out of the inn entirely. Aerith moved into the kitchen, having a seat at the table with a sigh. "She doesn't look healthy," Elmyra opinioned as she washed dishes, "Her stomach is too flat for how far along she is... Aerith, watch out for her. She needs to eat more and rest more, but she's not going to do that." Turning, the older woman set the dish she'd been washing on the cupboard and dried her hands, coming to sit at the table with her adopted daughter.
Aerith swallowed, "I'd noticed too. I'll sit on her if she tries anything stupid. I'll have Zack sit on her too." Reaching over, Aerith took her mother's hands and gave a smile. "I really admire her though. So determined..."
Katy stood in a flowering field outside of Kalm, the ground was soft beneath her bare feet, the wild scents whipped by the strong wind that promised rain soon. This was the sort of temperature she liked, this was the sort of climate and scenery. She'd always hated Alabama, always cursed it for causing her endless pain and suffering in the way of allergies and lingering sinus infections and headaches. Her parents had asked whenever she complained 'where would you like to live' and she'd never had an answer simply because she hadn't traveled anywhere without them to know where she'd like to live.
The first sob shook her before she could suck her breath in and swallow it. Grief- she hadn't had time to think about them, or her sister. Everything about those 'brothers' she'd told Rufus had been a lie, the words and experiences made up or taken wholesale from her guy-friends. Would she give up this quest and new life with her first, and hopefully only lover just to go back to boring old Alabama and never know the taste of freedom? She'd never wanted a car before she got one and realized how good it was to be able to go where she wanted. She'd never wanted to leave her parents either. Was this another step in the process of becoming adult? She knew she had to.
She was wasting time, however. The storm was coming in and she wanted those bloody Chocobos. Reaching towards the ground like she did when casting any other spell, she closed her eyes as the first splatters of rain began to fall, then harder still till a more solid wall of water came rolling towards her, pushed by the wind. She hardly cared, didn't bother running from it. The water was cold and the realization that it was a thunderstorm occurred to her when lightening flashed so brightly that it nearly blinded her even with her eyes closed. The thunder nearly deafened her. "Planet-" she called gently, reaching towards the ground mentally, trying to touch it, and what lay beneath. It was so weak here, even here so far outside of Midgar. Poor world. Those things really were horrible creations. At last, she was answered by the Lifestream and after quickly informing it of what she wanted, she stood waiting with a hand full of greens waiting.
At long last, two Chocobos came trotting through the water, looking thoroughly soaked and messy, but they crowded up close to her, taking the greens from her hands and she scrambled up onto one of the slick backs and road one giant bird bare backed into town while the other followed obediently. Taking them to the shack-like stable beside the inn, she dismounted and set them up with food and water, dried them off as well as she could before jogging around front and into the inn herself.
Stepping in was like stepping into heaven. Warmth, light, and dryness all washed over her as she entered and breathed in the scent of dinner nearing completion. "-Go out and look for her," Zack was saying to Aerith as he headed towards the door. He came to an abrupt stop and shook his head. "Where were you?"
"Getting our rides. You didn't pay for anything, did you?" Zack shook his head as Katy dripped past him and headed towards the stairs, "How long till dinner?" she asked Aerith.
Finally shaking herself from her surprise, Aerith looked up and smiled, "Another half hour."
Giving a nod, Katy continued up the stairs, "I'm going to get a shower then." She disappeared from view.
Zack chewed on his lower lip, "She looks fine to me."
Deliberately lowering his voice, Zack moved towards the kitchen, Aerith following.
"That's odd, she looked so pale before she left. I don't know. Maybe she'll be alright after all?" Aerith shrugged, left without an answer.
Her ass hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Having the whole day to travel riding instead of walking was doing wonders for their self-imposed time constraint, though from the last she'd heard in Kalm the dual-world situation was degrading rather rapidly. Shinra was trying to annex Hawaii as part of Wutai, the Hawaiians were resisting with great force. In return, this world seemed to have lost Mideel and lord knew where IT had landed in Earth and what the various governments were trying to do with it. At least Hawaii had a high population of Japanese and Chinese, they could communicate fairly clearly with their new world. Oh, and not to forget what the religious fanatics were making of this. It suddenly struck her as strange that just these planets would be merging when humans had sent probes and such out to places like Mars and Jupiter and the Moon. What did that say for the real order of the Universe?
Katy shifted, stretching her legs a bit before relaxing back against Cloud once more. Aerith and Zack were riding double on the other bird and were currently loping easily along as the Chocobo ranch came into view on the horizon. Cloud had been unusually silent after his attempt to withdraw had been shot down. He didn't seem to understand the 'Chick Magnet' aspect of being a Hero. "I thought you wanted to be a First Class SOLDIER," Katy stated out of the blue, startling him.
Cloud swallowed, "I thought you were asleep. Aerith told me to let you sleep."
"Ah, so that little potion was Aerith's doing. I'll remember that one." At least she'd done it at a time when Katy could afford the rest. "You didn't answer my question. There's just being one of The Best, then there's saving the world, and then there's saving two worlds. You'll get more out of this with one swift move than you ever could have gotten in SOLDIER."
He remained in sullen silence. What a moody little boy. "How do you know so much about us?"
She paused for a moment, finally concentrating on her words, making them unintelligible English once more, "Because you're all a game in my world." There. She'd told the truth. No one could ever say that she hadn't, that she'd lied. So what if he hadn't understood her.
Cloud shook his head, "I didn't understand you."
"Huh?" she asked in return. Maybe he'd get the point and stop asking inconvenient questions?
Heaving a sigh, Cloud fell silent for a time, waiting patiently for her to decide she wanted to understand him again. He got tired of waiting. "I guess your translation spell isn't quite so reliable as you thought."
Giving a smile, Katy replied, "I got distracted, that's all. I have a short attention span sometimes. Comes from being a Gemini. I'm always jumping from one thing to the next."
"What's this 'Gemini'? Is that a Cetra classification?" Cloud asked, distracted.
She couldn't help but laugh, "In a way, more it's just a classification for people born in certain months under certain constellations that describes what their personality will be like. Mine is Gemini, the twins."
Cloud took a breath, "So... say my birthday is August nineteenth, what would I be?"
For a long moment, Katy was silent and he feared she wasn't going to answer, probably he'd just stepped on some ancient custom of hers or something- pissing off the Cetra, good idea, about as good an idea as pissing Sephiroth off. And of course, this Cetra was the one Sephiroth loved... Or so he'd thought. She was turning out to be a lot more faithful to the bastard than he was to her. "Ah, Leo, the lion, a great cat in my world, known for courage and ferocity when it comes to defending his territory."
"You're making that up," he accused with a sigh.
Laughing, Katy sat forward a bit and turned to look over her shoulder at him, "Am not! You calling me a liar? I haven't lied to you once." Or at least, not so's you can prove. "You just haven't come into your full personality yet, always hiding in everyone else's shadow... like Sephiroth's or Zack's, but you can shine just as brightly as either of them. This is your chance to show her that you're worth looking at, though she won't need much persuasion." Katy smiled coyly at his look of astonishment, "And don't you say a word about 'I don't know who you're talking about'. You know exactly who I'm talking about, and she sees you more than you think. Women are funny like that." She grinned at him and turned to face forward again, leaning back against his chest once more. "But keep in mind, though she'd like you to be strong, it's not for her sake, it's for yours. She can take care of herself, but wants someone to lean on in case things get tough, and its combined strengths that pull a relationship through tough times rather than one or the other."
"Is that what you expect of Sephiroth?" he asked, a bit nervously.
Taking a breath between her teeth, she swallowed. "I- yes. But he's been hurt. You have no idea how badly, and I forgive him his current flightiness. He just needs to figure himself out, and he can't really do that when some parasite is poisoning his mind like this. I'll stay by him, it takes a lot to make me leave a friend, and we were friends before lovers. I didn't make the decision to take that step lightly either."
Cloud stared ahead sourly, "I don't see how..."
Katy laughed, "Did Zack tell you about when he asked Seph about this?" she heard his mumbled 'yes', and continued, "You believed it about as much as he did, eh?" she grinned, "Well, it was true, we communicated in dreams while our worlds were still separated." She chewed on her lower lip a bit. Even then, their relationship had been semi-physical, but safely so. The real thing was better though.
They were closing in on the ranch, but it was still some ways off. They wouldn't make it before evening settled its dark cloak over the land. Katy settled back against Cloud again, relaxing and letting silence fall. She didn't want to stir up any more uncomfortable questions after all.
Sephiroth at last had his head clear of the fog that tormented him most of his days lately. Jenova was preoccupied elsewhere, leaving him completely free of her hold, but that also meant he was unable to do any of those interesting tricks like teleport and fly, apparently leaving him so crippled was Jenova's way of making sure he wouldn't wander off. Then again, what did it matter if he did? He couldn't cut her cells from his body.
Sighing, he pulled his knees against his chest, wrapping his arms around them as he sat on the roof of a building looking out across Midgar. It was the highest building there was, and thus, he was in no risk of being spotted. All Shinra's gadgets for keeping people from breaking into the building had done nothing to deter the repeated attacks from his beloved, which amused Sephiroth to no end, if anyone was worthy of being his co-ruler of the world, it was she. He knew though, that she would not want that. She'd told him repeatedly that she wasn't a good leader type. She was too flighty, panicky in tough situations. No, he didn't figure that she'd lied to him. She just didn't know her own limits.
Shinra had gone home for the night, and so had everyone but the night watch. Where was she now? He could sleep and find her in his dreams perhaps, but... after what had happened...
No, that look in her eyes as he fell. She didn't blame him for what he'd said. But he couldn't sleep. He was too wound up from what Jenova had made him promise Hojo. That wasn't his promise though Hojo would try and make him hold to it. The words had come through his mouth, but not his mind nor heart. Stupid bastard that Hojo was believed anything he wanted to. Getting to his feet, Sephiroth dropped down off the roof to the helicopter landing pad, moving to the glass door of Shinra's office. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his little kit of tools and jimmied the lock. The door opened without protest or alarm and he stepped in, closing it behind him.
The place was so achingly familiar- aching with remembered pain from tests and demonstrations of his power in front of Shinra. Sephiroth simply felt like tormenting himself and carefully paced through the upper office before heading down a floor. He wasn't feeling so masochistic as to walk into Hojo's lab when the scientist was probably pulling long hours. How long had it been since Sephiroth had last seen Hojo cleaned up and shaved properly? ... oh, never. Amazing the difference it made. He padded down another floor, finally coming to the first floor of Hojo's lab.
Unexpectedly, his wanderings took him to the prisoner's cells. Katy wasn't there, she wouldn't be there... but her stuff was. He stepped into the room, looking at the neatly catalogued mess that was spread across the tables, his hand touching the books Katy had tried to explain to him, his hand going to her backpack, and finally coming to rest on the keys with the green wallet attached to it. He picked up the tattered leather fold, aware of the gentle tinkle of the keys clicking together, the collection of things also attached to the wallet suddenly seemed like a window into Katy's soul. A disk of leather with a winged... what was that thing? It had four legs and hooves and a long snout. Perhaps it was some mythical creature or other, or maybe a monster on her world? There was a glow in the dark tab with writing on it. It was a bit scuffed up, there were lots of useless key rings and her keys hung from a strip of cloth that was on the verge of falling apart but held together by a safety pin.
Inside the wallet were several photo ID cards and lots of folded pieces of paper. There were two long green rectangles and some coins, probably money of a sort in the zippered pocket. He pulled the wad of ID cards and papers out and started going through them. There were several pictures of people Sephiroth didn't know, the papers seemed to be lists of a sort or random jottings of notes.
His heart stopped for a moment as he pulled a rather familiar strip of paper out of the stack. It was crisp, clean, carefully folded, preserved. Blood started pumping again, fast and loudly. Sephiroth's fingers felt thick as he unfolded the paper. It couldn't be-
It was.
"She got it..." SHE had it!
Breathing ragged, he stared at the strip of paper- and the familiar feeling of Jenova reawakening in his body spurred him to fold the paper and stuff it into his pant pocket for safe keeping, swallowing, he cleared his mind of his unraveled thoughts and stared around the room dispassionately.
What in the world are you doing there? Jenova asked waspishly, took hold of him fully. The world turned to gray shot with blue and white streaks, then reformed to the rocky side of a mountain overlooking a massive swamp. Stay here. See that SHE doesn't die, but make sure the others do. Once she's secured, take her to the scientist.
"So you're actually going to honor your word on that little deal?" Sephiroth asked sourly.
What? I'm not 'Mother' anymore? I'm hurt. Yes, I'll honor that word so long as he's useful. In the end, they'll all die. They have to be purged, my son. They're a blight upon this earth. They're draining it's blood, killing it! And once evil is purged from this world, then you'll rule as their god.
Sephiroth stared off into the darkness. "Of course," he replied, voice a sarcastic monotone. He hadn't disagreed with her, she could say nothing, he hadn't even had anything in his voice either for her to say 'watch your tone'. Ha. Katy's little trick of saying one thing and meaning another and not lying was quite useful.
He was let to himself again. "Stay here... my ass," he muttered and started down the mountain.
Katy stared at herself in the mirror, frowning deeply. She was getting so large- already. Silently, she cursed the child growing within her, wishing he'd stop for just a bit, let her finish this! Then he could grow all he wanted. She just needed a little more time. She'd been informed by Ma, the wife of the Chocobo ranch owner, that she looked to be about two months along and in full honesty, didn't look too healthy herself. Pregnant ladies shouldn't be gallivanting about the planet on the backs of Chocobos. They should be safely at home. Gestating. Right. Like Katy had the fricken time for that? Not that she'd be any safer hanging around in one place as she was on the back of a Chocobo.
No help for it. She had to continue onwards.
Taking a breath, she pulled her clothing on- newly purchased from Ma's older stuff- things from her younger days that she could never fit anymore, and headed out to meet the others in the early hours of the morning. She hated getting up early, but they had a long way to go and they were going to have to go through some caves to get there. She'd never been in caves before. Would they be pretty? Or boring like the ones from the game? Who knew. The game had surprising accuracy for geography thus far. She just hoped the Turks wouldn't pop in on them.
Remounting the Chocobos wasn't hard, just encouraging them with magic and a bit of greens was enough to make them quite happy to deal with their riders. The journey across the bog was slow going, taking far longer than Katy had thought it would. She kept her patience though, only by dozing in the saddle, still seated in front of Cloud. Her ass hurt from the day before and today it had gone numb completely. Well, good. It was one less thing to worry about except getting her legs to respond afterwards.
"Oh god! What is that?" Cloud startled her with, pulling the bird to a sudden stop.
Pulling herself awake fully, Katy knew what it was, but refused to look, "Don't just stand here, dumbass, get out of the bog. There's more than just that one lurking around here."
Zack, having heard the order from where he'd stopped as well started his bird forward and the other followed. Quickly, they were on dry land again and past the gruesome decoration without Katy ever opening her eyes to look. She didn't feel like being sick again this morning. Thanks, but no thanks. At the cave mouth, she stumbled off her bird and into Cloud's arms briefly, then corrected her balance. Turning, she started towards the cavern without even looking at her companions.
"What do we do with the birds?" Cloud called to her.
Pausing, Katy half turned, throwing a grin back at him, "Let em go. They're wild, they'll get along fine without us."
He seemed astonished at this, but finally took the cheap harnesses off and dropped the tack to the ground, out of the way. The others jogged to catch up and met her at the entrance to the cave. "There's actually paths through here because it's used often, but keep to the paths," Zack cautioned and led the way in with his lantern held high.
Katy followed Aerith, who, unsurprisingly, was directly after Zack, but fairly soon, even Cloud got ahead of her and didn't even realize he had. Oh well. She could find her way out, she was sure. She didn't feel like keeping up.
As the group got further ahead, pitch darkness closed in around her, seeming intent... stalking... Fear made her heart begin to pound and she started to pick up the pace. A pair of hands jerked her back, one bare palm going over her mouth, the other around her shoulders, strong arms. A Familiar scent washed over her and she swayed back against his chest. Leaning down, he whispered into her ear. "She told me... to kill them with my bare hands..." he said softly, as if that were some sort of joke, but he was telling it backwards. "after I lost my sword in the swamp. I told her I couldn't do that. It wasn't... elegant. Not my style. Now, how can the world properly fear me if I turn barbarian. I must have my sword."
His hand peeled off her mouth when her breathing calmed and she spun around in his remaining arm, throwing her arms around his shoulders, pulling his head down for a blind kiss, which he thoroughly seemed to enjoy once he found her lips. It had been so long since he'd seen her- she'd changed shape beneath the shapeless bag that was something between dress and pants. Their lips parted and she tucked her head beneath his chin. "I missed you," she said softly.
For a moment, he held her- then the realization struck him. "Your-"
"Shh, They'll come back looking for me at any moment, don't want them to interrupt for now. Short answer: if I don't pay attention, I can understand." Tears slid across his bare flesh as she rubbed her face against him. "For now- I need to seal you off from her." Her body went still, stiff, tense... He felt as if he was holding a board for a moment, then the shadow haunting the back of his mind lifted. She went limp against him.
Catching her, he moved to the side of the path, having a seat and tucking her into his lap, removing his coat to tuck her up into. "Katy- what happened- why ..." he felt her stomach with one hand.
For a long moment, she was silent, then stated softly, "I told you I'd get pregnant. But did you listen to me? Not at all! Stupid dickhead." She dropped her voice again as echoes of the group ahead floated back. Her hands found his face with a bit of groping and slid back into his hair, rubbing behind his ears. "Seph, it's not just this world she's going to destroy, it's yours and mine and I can't let that happen. Help me. Don't give in to her." Her fingers were so cold, her body trembling.
"I can't get away from my own body," he whispered to her. "It's taking power for you to push her out like this, isn't it? You couldn't possibly hold it all the time." Desperately, he tried to warm her by rubbing with his hands, finally pulling his gloves from the pocket of his coat and pulling them onto her hands. "Why are you so cold?"
A sob shook her and her arms wrapped around him again. The rest of her tears were muffled into his shoulder, teeth even pressing against his flesh sharply. Wrapping his arms around her in return, he rocked gently, trying to comfort her but her tears were lasting an incredibly long time and the light from the lantern Zack held was coming back, their voices calling for Katy. "Seph," she choked out, "Don't leave me again- The final fight- it will be in your own mind anyway. Let me fight beside you and we'll be done with it!"
What could he say? The only answer was 'Yes' but the wall around him was beginning to crack. "Go easier on yourself, you look terrible," he told her, shifting her from his lap and neglected to take his coat and gloves from her, instead turning and moving off into the darkness.
He heard her scuffle after him but fall. Grinding his teeth, he ran, bursting back out into the light as the last of the defense Katy had put up crumbled. "Sorry, Mother, getting close to her makes your presence fade. I can't get close." It was true, though it was more his preoccupation with reaching her that had made Jenova's voice fade from his mind. Jenova said nothing though and he went towards the swamp, wading into it up to his knees to retrieve his abused sword from the sinking sticky mud.
She didn't look up as light washed over her and Aerith breathed a gasp. Katy sat curled up on the edge of the path, wrapped in Sephiroth's coat, looking small and wounded, knees to her chest, face buried in her arms atop them.
Aerith knelt beside her, lifting a hand to touch Katy's wrist just under the cuff of Sephiroth's sleeve, searching for a pulse. "I'm alright," was the muffled mutter. "It's cold in here," she stumbled to her feet, eyes puffy from tears, but she was ignoring that and had started on, hiking Sephiroth's coat up around herself like a very large robe. She looked dwarfed by it- and far more ill than even fifteen minutes ago.
No one dared ask her what had happened.
Escape into the light was a rather sudden feeling of loss for Katy, as if she'd just been turned loose from her mother's arms and left to float away into the sky. She hadn't really had time to prepare for it, the increasing chill had her shivering and huddled in Sephiroth's coat- surrounded by the very scent of him that made her want to burst into tears once more. Once a short distance from the side of the mountain, they made ready for camp as they'd been in the cave far longer than had been obvious. Katy looked around, mostly up at the rocky cliffs cast in sharp relief by the setting sun, searching for a fluff of silver hair among the rubble.
Her search turned up nothing but rocks and a few shrubs. At last, she curled up for the night, falling asleep once more. She was sleeping too much.
The leap of joy his heart gave nearly pulled him from sleep, but he kept his thoughts quiet. Jenova couldn't stop him from dreaming of her- after careful questioning he'd figured out that she didn't know he actually dreamed with her, and thus he had a secret way of communication once again.
She was seated in a black version of their happy glade, curled in a ball in the dead grass. He sat beside her, forcing a flower to bloom and leaning down to tickle her nose with it. She blinked into awareness and sat up, staring at him. "I thought-" he placed a hand over her mouth, giving a meaningful shake of his head. She fell into his arms.
Slowly, his eyes drifted around the ruined glade, seeing the blackened stumps of gnarled trees that had once been so beautiful. Had she done this, or had he done it through her? He wasn't sure, but it was depressing. There were things he wanted to say, but couldn't say them, the words locked in his throat. She didn't seem to feel like talking either, for she never said a word their entire dream, just clung to him tightly.
Light gleamed off its perfect edge, like water dripping from a diamond. He could see his reflection in its polished surface; level eyed gaze, eyes of vibrant blue-green, glowing almost. To most, he would seem no different from any other day in the past, even before Wutai, they would see an emotionless creature of death and destruction. A killing machine. To him, his eyes were sad. He was coming so close to having a sort of freedom from that damned tower- though Katy, he could have. Then Jenova had struck. It wasn't fair. Life had never been fair to him!
Sephiroth grit his teeth, taking hold of Masamune's hilt and picking the blade up as he stood, other hand tossing his hair behind his shoulders. He'd been told in no uncertain terms that if he didn't do what he'd been told to do he would be forced to kill Katy with his own hands. Jenova had coyly offered that at least she would still be alive in Hojo's lab... for the time being anyway.
The thought made him sick. After what Hojo had done to her friend? No... But Jenova had not been speaking idle threats. She could and would take full control of his body. He had no choice.
Still lacking his coat and gloves, he crept down the side of the mountain. He'd been following them from the cliffs, but soon they would change their path to go around a swath of forest that was known to have bandits. Zack had taken this road with Sephiroth many times, Zack knew the way- and Sephiroth knew Zack wasn't imaginative enough to realize that. Katy would have, if she'd known. Who knew what she knew? She was secretive yet open...
Tightly controlling his breathing on the climb down, he was left with no extra breath or time to bother with a sigh. It was a useless gesture anyway, didn't save the situation, wouldn't save anyone. This was the sort of thinking that had won him the title of 'emotionless'. No, he still grieved for his duty this day. It was just impractical at the moment to indulge in it.
At last, he made it to the rock strewn ground at the base of the mountains, unsheathing his sword so he wouldn't get it tangled with his feet, he crouched and began running through the tall grass, slinking like a predator. His prey was moving along at a steady pace towards him, Katy lurking at the back, but firmly held onto by Cloud. She was still wearing his coat.
In the light, he could tell she was very pale, sunburnt, and tired. Her hair was a bit wild, but pulled back towards a ponytail at the back of her head, the majority of it out of her face, her bangs and the hair on the sides refused to cooperate with that though and fluffed around her face charmingly. She had confessed to hating her hair.
His eyes slid down from her face to her body- to her swollen stomach. Weakly, he slid down to kneel where he was, hidden in the grass. She... was proof of his being able to create as well as destroy. Grinding his teeth when he felt the flash of annoyance from Jenova, he pushed himself up into his crouch again, left hand holding Masamune out ready, the right braced upon the ground for balance. A gust of wind pushed the grass in a steadily rolling wave, stirred his hair, but his eyes did not waver. A muscle in his cheek twitched.
Ignorantly, they continued closer, Aerith and Zack chatting cheerfully, Cloud in nervous silence, Katy's company was like a black hole, sucking her guardian down into depression with her, the two just ahead were desperately trying to escape the downward spiral, but their efforts were failing even as he watched. Shifting his fingers on Masamune's hilt, he stretched them one by one, reset his grip, made sure the sweat on his palms wouldn't hinder him. Breathing became a labor, but he forced himself to keep it slow and calm.
Katy stopped. Cloud tried to get her to move again. Zack and Aerith stopped to see what the problem was. They turned their backs to him. Good- he wouldn't have to see their faces. Katy was staring at him.
His heart lurched- grip on Masamune slackened, then reformed, his body, against his will began to move, slinking forward. No-! Stop! His mind wailed beating against the glass cage he'd been put into. Desperately, he beat against the walls of his prison, watching as he picked up speed, legs pumping firmly, eating the distance between himself and the group. He leapt up, Masamune flung out to the far left in ready for a sweep to the right that would decapitate both Zack and Aerith at once. Efficiency...
"AAAIIIIIHHH!" Katy shrieked, hands lifting, and with them, his spirits.
Kill me! Please! He thought desperately at her, Stop me! Stop her!
As if answering his prayers, green-blue light burst up around her from the ground, bathing her in its brilliance, engulfing her, revitalizing her- then the column twisted in the air and snaked straight towards him- slamming into his chest. His forward momentum stopped. His lips uttered a howl of pain as it felt like he was being torn to pieces, but he reveled in it, for not only was this his pain, but Jenova had felt it too. Ha! Bitch, teach you to mess with my Katy! He sneered at Jenova as her presence faded and his own sight slid into darkness.
Dipping the rag into her small bucket of water again, she lifted it out, squeezed it a bit, then returned it to the task of dabbing his sweating face. He didn't look well in the least, though Katy had been assured that he would be fine after it was over. She wasn't so sure now. Had she made the right choice? Certainly it had saved Zack and Aerith- who had thanked her profusely, but her worries had been entirely for Sephiroth and it somewhat made her guilty that she hadn't been worried about the other three in her company in the least.
But, now she had Sephiroth and he was guaranteed free of Jenova, lot of good that would do him if he died of fever. They'd made camp, Zack and Cloud carrying Sephiroth between them to a safer place than just right there on the side of the road... path... they'd been following.
She was thankful to Cloud, though he'd been assigned the duty of keeping track of her, he hadn't spoken to her. She'd been to intent upon her thoughts to hold a conversation with anyone other than the Planet. She didn't know what they'd taken her silence for, but it hardly mattered considering its result. She dipped her rag again and trailed the cool water across his forehead.
So beautiful... Would her child look like him? Pristine marble was what he was, a statue of a Greek god. Perhaps Sephiroth was the embodiment of Aries, the god of war? Lips quirking briefly at the thought, she caressed the line of his jaw with the edge of her thumb. No one had given Aries the time of day in the Greek mythos, perhaps he could have been something great and beautiful if someone had bothered to love him. Or perhaps not, gods were static. That was the purpose of mortality, to instigate change.
Katy's heart fluttered along with his eyelids, and she stared intently upon his face, wanting him to wake- to tell her he'd be alright. Her wish was granted when his eyes cracked open slightly, eerie irises glowing visible from beneath the dark lashes. Beautiful eyes, "G'morning," she said cheerfully to him when his eyes fully opened and intelligence entered them. Even though it was evening now.
"You- didn't kill me..." he whispered, voice cracked.
Face falling, but heart still high, Katy wiped his brow with her rag once more. "No. I didn't because I'm not letting you go." She smiled, "You'll not get rid of me that easily."
Slowly, he became aware of the others in the area, they'd gone silent, looking towards him, making him conscious of his current position. He was on his back in a camp. Beyond their fire, it was pitch dark, but it looked like the usual campsite for this road. Yes... he knew where he was. She rubbed her stomach a bit with her other hand, but her eyes never left his face. Once more, she looked happy, that habitual down-turning of the corners of her lips was gone, they were held up faintly, though not quite a smile. At last, figuring out which limb was what, Sephiroth lifted one of his own hands, placing it over hers on her stomach.
"Just so you know, I figure you owe me three things. First- an apology for worrying me so much, second, a wedding, and third..." she leaned forward as if this was the most important one of all. "A lot of strawberries with chocolate sauce."
The others started giggling. Clearing his throat, Sephiroth finally found his voice and the strength to prop himself up on one elbow. "I don't think you need that third one," he stated firmly. She pouted at him, then leaned forward and kissed him. This kiss, he gladly returned, feeling as if light had begun to fill his empty void, pouring from her mouth into his.
She sat back reluctantly, smiling faintly still, though worry pinched the outer corners of her eyes. If she kept it up, she'd have wrinkles there soon. The rag was dropped back into the bucket and she moved away from him briefly, pouring a cup of stew made from trail rations and handed it to him. "Have dinner before you fall asleep again," she stated, reading his features accurately- or was he that tired to be so transparent? Sephiroth didn't know, but felt she was right in her assumption that he should eat, having not had anything for... was it days now? He made quick work of the cup and fell back into the bedding, which was apparently hers for everyone else still had a bed.
Once he was finished, she set the cup aside for someone else to take care of and curled up beside him, a welcome warmth compared to the one that suffused his body at that moment. He still hurt. One thing was certain, though, he could not feel Jenova lurking in him.
The others followed Katy's example, though they took a little longer at it than she had. Finally, it was quiet in camp and only Sephiroth remained awake. No- Katy's fingers trailed across his chest slowly, sending a thrill through him. With no witnesses, Sephiroth now turned onto his side and fully embraced her, having felt nervous about doing such a thing while the others were watching. She relaxed even more against him, but remained awake, her hand trailing down the side of his chest to his waist then hip.
Desperately, he tried to control his reaction, but she'd trained him rather well and bad habits formed rather quickly- especially when one was willingly indulging in them. "Don't worry, they're asleep... couldn't wake them with a bomb." She'd spoken softly, despite her words, as if afraid to break the silence. Tilting her head back, she looked at him, smiling faintly. "You owe me a lot of sex too, by the way."
Sephiroth rather belatedly realized that he was grinning at her, and only because she'd kissed the corner of his lips. Forcing them to do as commanded, he kissed her back and rolled atop her.
They'd come across a small uncharted village on the route between the caves and Junon just as night descended. Katy was a bit surprised, but didn't say anything about it. After all, how could this world be so unpopulated as that? People wanting trade or customers would strategically place their town upon often used roads just at the end of a day's journey. Anyone coming in would have to use the inn and tavern, and they'd have the opportunity to buy more supplies. Katy enjoyed a room and bed with Sephiroth, with no possible witnesses to their nightly activities, nor eavesdroppers on their conversations. It was very nice.
However, the group had gathered forces and united against her, stating that they were going to take a day of rest. More like they were going to force her to take a day of rest. But, she had Sephiroth, and that had been her goal in the beginning. He was free of Jenova now.
The town was still small, though it had the signs of new growth here and there, and pending new growth elsewhere. Sephiroth wandered among the houses and shops wearing civilian garb he'd sent Zack out to get. Well, the shirt was civilian at least, he'd just left his pants untucked from his boots, falling over the tops of the tall leather apparel and looked sufficiently unlike his usual self to pass relatively unnoticed. At least the ladies had seen him walking into town with Katy and had apparently assumed the truth of his relationship with her and left him alone though they did titter to each other about his looks.
Was he really that good looking? Sephiroth had never thought so. Too high of cheek bones, too sharp of eyes, nose, and mouth, silver hair... if anything, not only did he look effeminate, but he looked like an old man too. Katy said she liked his hair and had taken to brushing and braiding it in the mornings. He let her, she seemed to enjoy the task- and it felt good. Especially when she ran her fingers through it, starting at his hair line and slowly scraping her nails across his scalp. Eventually, he ended up in the fields outside of town, though not too far away. Here, he choose to have a seat and flopped to the ground. The grass wasn't so tall out here, only a few inches high with plenty of flowers in this late spring.
Absently, he picked some stocks of the grass and began braiding them, mind thankfully devoid of thought. His peace didn't last long, though, the swishing sound of someone walking through the grass broke across his senses. The space and weight of the tread informed him that it was only Zack and his shoulders relaxed once more as the dark haired young man had a seat beside him. "Whatcha doing out here?"
Sighing, Sephiroth looked down at what his fingers had been accomplishing, "Nothing really," he replied finally. "Reveling in the silence of my own mind, perhaps?" Zack smiled faintly, perhaps in agreement, Sephiroth wasn't sure, the young man wasn't as easy to read today as he usually was. "Why are you out here?"
Zack looked down at Sephiroth's hands, then towards the grass, "To talk to you." Sephiroth looked away, "It's something you should think about."
"Go on."
Lifting a hand, Zack rubbed his face a bit, pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'd been thinking about this for a while- I had a whole speech planned out... now I can't remember it. It seems... irrelevant how I was going to start." He stopped his rambling and shook his head, straightening his back, "Sephiroth. Do you love her? Truly? Are you willing to be what she wants you to be? What she needs you to be?" Glancing over at Sephiroth, Zack saw the answer though the General's lips nearly formed the words 'I don't know what you're talking about'. "No," he interrupted before it could be said, "You don't know, do you?" Zack sighed again, looking down. "Then let's take this from the top. What DO you feel when you're with her?"
Silence fell between them, but Zack seemed to have expected this and waited. Sephiroth had never been comfortable with his emotions and where Zack had realized he had them and used them as a tool to woo women to his bed, he did respect them and their power. They were like fire, one could burn things out of the way, but like fire, they could get out of control and burn him too.
"I feel like I'm wanted," Sephiroth answered finally, truthfully and baldly. That seemed to be the type of tone this conversation needed. Zack was there to help, though Sephiroth didn't like to admit that he needed help, but he was lost and half blind despite the beacon of light Katy held for him.
Nodding once, Zack continued. "And what do you think of her?"
Think of her? Yes, this one was far easier to answer. He'd been thinking of her a lot. "I admire her. She seemed so frail in the beginning, she always said she wasn't meant to be a leader or anything, and yet, she's decided to save two worlds and faced down people I could never spit at out of fear. She's so... strong. She clung to me, but when I fell- I thought she'd fall with me, but instead she let go and anchored the rope for me to climb back up with. All by herself..."
At this, Zack smiled, "No, not by herself. And though you think she's so strong... I've seen her break." His expression became shaded, far too serious, and looked out of place on the face Sephiroth had always seen smiling. "She shatters like glass, Seph. You're the glue that holds her together." With that, Zack stood, pushing his lips towards something like a smile and left Sephiroth with that pronouncement as if it were a prediction of doom and destruction. The peaceful scene turned dark and wind slightly chill though no shift in weather had occurred. Sephiroth felt cold inside.
Finally, after long contemplation of Zack's words and the decision that he had to make a decision on the subject, Sephiroth pondered his options, plans of strategy, then dismissed that line of thinking. This wasn't a war game. He couldn't just conquer her. Not when he already held her. She wasn't a trophy. She was his gift- a gift from herself, and a gift that was to be used, not admired from a shelf. He decided, and stood, smiling slightly to himself as he looked at the crown of woven grass and flowers he'd created. Zack had been right, he did need to wake up and realize what effect he had on her.
Lost in thought still, he meandered back into town, unaware of the brief looks he got for carrying the circlet of flowers. If he had noticed them, he would have been highly embarrassed, but they didn't know who he was. Entering the inn, he found only Cloud seated at one of the tables in the tavern, playing Solitaire. He wasn't winning. "Is Katy upstairs?" he asked, breaking into the blonde's thoughts.
Looking up, perhaps nervously, he shook his head, "She went out for a walk," his eyes went to the window, then to his wristwatch. "An hour ago, Sephiroth nodded and continued up to their room anyway and dropped the ring of flowers on the nightstand, then headed back down to go find her. He wanted to tell her his decision. She'd probably like it. She'd probably smile at him- flashing those dimples and gap between her front two teeth. She hated that gap too, but he thought it was adorable.
Along the way, he found Zack again, he was haggling for their supplies and politely, Sephiroth waited for the transaction to be completed before speaking. "Do you know where Katy is?" he asked.
Zack blinked, then shook his head, "She's with Aerith," that was a relief. "Aerith said something about going window shopping."
Ah, those magical words that were code for 'going to stores to ask about prices on items you have no intention of ever buying'. Sephiroth smiled slightly to himself. The cart owner spoke up, "You mean the girl in pink and the pregnant one? They were over at Lyam's last I saw."
Giving a nod, Sephiroth replied politely, "Thank you," then turned and headed down the street, Zack deciding to tag along.
"So, did you think about what I'd said?" Zack, of course, had to ask as they strolled along.
Glancing at the ground, Sephiroth lifted his eyes again, "Yes. I did." After a moment, he added, "thank you," it was a far more heartfelt pair of words than he'd given the cart owner for his trouble. Zack smiled.
Their path turned towards the shop. It was a clothing store. Nothing within was particularly trendy, but there were some outfits Sephiroth would have liked to see Katy wear, perhaps after she had the baby though. "Good afternoon gentlemen!" the shop owner bubbled cheerfully. "Can I help you with something?" he was a middle-aged gentleman that seemed a bit too attentive to his male customers and had far too good a taste in clothing.
Zack spoke before Sephiroth could even think of anything scathing to say. "We're looking for a pair of girls, one in pink the other pregnant?"
The man clapped his hands, "Oh- the ones I sold The Little Red Thing to! Yes, they were heading down to Mrs. Puttman's shop to get accessories for It." Sephiroth wasn't hallucinating, the man WAS capitalizing things. How dreadfully frightening... and yet... what WAS this 'Little Red Thing'? Zack looked intrigued as well.
"Ah, which one intended to wear It?" Zack asked after a moment with a spark in his eyes.
Lyam grinned, "Why, Aerith, I believe. They'd already picked something out for Katy at Rina's place. I don't deal clothes for that particular body-shape, but I fully approved of what they'd picked."
Zack pumped a fist, "Yes!" Sephiroth realized his face had become rather hot. He looked away.
With that, they set out to find Mrs. Puttman's shop for further clues as to what the girls had in store for their respective males. Sephiroth firmly refused to enter the store once he realized what it was. Boldly, Zack entered and exited a moment later. He looked disappointed. "They haven't been here yet."
"What'd they get sidetracked with?" Sephiroth pondered, pushing off the wall and they started back, looking at the stores between Lyam's and Puttman's. There was a bakery shop, and after Katy's pestering for strawberries and chocolate sauce, Sephiroth simply knew they'd gone there.
This line was abruptly cut off when the baker said he hadn't seen them. They tried the two other stores in line between Lyam's and Puttman's, finally realizing that the trail ended there. How very strange. Zack stood in the shade, his arms folded, leaning against the wall of the building they stood beside. Sephiroth left his hands limp at his sides, though he felt like tearing his hair out. "Where could they be? Did they backtrack instead? Maybe they went back to the inn to drop their things off?"
"And risk us finding their bags and looking?" Sephiroth replied, surprising Zack with the amazing insight into the female mind. That hadn't occurred to him. "Perhaps they took a bathroom break." Katy did have a rather annoying tendency to have to go pee.
Chewing on his lower lip, Zack nodded absently. "Then where would they have gone to go do that?"
"They didn't."
The new voice startled them and Seph reached for the sword that wasn't there, spinning towards the direction the voice had come from. All they found was a red dog with a thirteen branded into the flesh of his left thigh. Zack blinked, "Nanaki?" he asked, belatedly remembering what Jessie had called the creature.
Giving a nod, the dog-creature shifted. "The ones you're looking for are in trouble. Follow." With that, the creature flowed into a turn and then a run, heading off across the street, around a building and into someone's back yard. He didn't stop there, though, but kept going, oozing under the fence that marked the end of this house's territory. Sephiroth and Zack pounded after the creature, leaping the fence. "Shit- we don't have our swords," Zack puffed.
Sephiroth peeled away, "I'll catch up," he wasn't even puffing.
Her scream of pain was muffled by the firm hand holding cloth to her mouth. Her body was pinned, arms tied behind her back and held firmly, the cloth preventing her from biting and her legs had gone weak, she was defenseless. The one in front of her pulled back his fist again and launched it forward. They weren't even enjoying this- they weren't laughing, or seeming reluctant- just efficient. Tears streamed from her eyes.
Another shove sent her sprawling to the ground where she was kicked multiple times. Her wrists were bleeding from rope burn, her clothes torn, dirty, and bloody from the stabbings she'd received earlier in the fight.
Aerith wasn't that far away, though she had received far less damage than Katy. That hardly mattered in her current state though. Her neck was sliced open and her body left off to the side. Katy was glad her glasses had been knocked off early. She didn't want to see anything.
There was something wrong with the area. It felt dead, she couldn't use her magic. She'd thought she was invincible with it- but no. Jenova had found some way around it. This had to be Jenova's doing. But why were they keeping her alive? Another kick to her stomach had her vomiting again, blood this time.
The bushes suddenly burst to life around her, a blur of red streaking across the clearing to slam into one of her attackers. Something tall with dark hair followed a step after in a flurry of quick movements that revealed that he had no weapon. Desperately, Katy tried to wiggle her way to the side, out of danger, but pain made her slow, her arm was grabbed. The world twisted in her view as she was yanked up from the dirt. Again, the world twisted and fell away into gray.
Zack's fist landed a solid jab on his opponent's face and a second later Sephiroth appeared, tossing the Buster Sword to him. Seconds later, the black clad figures lay dead, and after that, black smoke drifted up from the corpses, leaving empty clothes. "Where's Katy?" Sephiroth asked after looking over the wreckage.
His breath caught in his throat as Zack spotted Aerith crumpled to the side. Hurrying over to her, he knelt by her side. His hand shook as he turned her over- feeling his own blood drain from him at the sight of the gash on her throat. Sephiroth, unable to find Katy stepped over to have a look as well, lips set in a grim line. His hand reached down and picked up the small pearl of white Materia that had fallen from Aerith's hair.
