Chapter 3

Litta woke up feeling horrible. They treated you horribly Cloud, but how do I know that? Did you ever give in? Why did you just let them beat you like that? They almost killed you! Suddenly she realized someone was outside her door, fumbling with the lock. Litta quickly got out of bed and grabbed her guns. The door opened and a girl about Litta's age came in.

"Litta? Are you in here?" she called into the darkness. I don't know her, do I? Maybe she's from my past. But yet, I feel like I don't. "Litta?"

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you, but not here." Her voice sounds almost desperate. Maybe she seriously knows me from somewhere. It can't hurt to talk to her.

"All right, lead the way." The girl nodded. She led Litta out of the hotel and into the forest. After a couple of minutes, she stopped.

"This is good."

"Who are you?" Litta asked.

"My name is Danis." As a smile began creeping across her face Litta thought, I have a bad feeling about this. "And I'm your worst nightmare." She brought out a gun and pointed it directly at Litta's forehead. "March to Shin-Ra. Any funny business and I'll put you through pain you didn't know was possible." Litta had no choice.

So she's a Turk. I don't remember seeing her...no, she never had anything to do with me. How do I get out of this? No one will be up for a couple of hours, she thought. Little didn't she know how far from the truth she was.

Cloud woke up first. When he saw that no one else was up, he left quietly so as not to disturb them. He walked into Litta's room and turned on the light. She's gone! He ran back into the room.

"Vincent, Squall, get up!" He shook them each until they were both wide awake. "Litta's gone!"

"Not again," Squall mumbled. They got up and went into her room. They looked everywhere for signs of where she might have gone. "Cloud, she took her guns." Squall noticed they were missing from her desk drawer. "Where would she go?"

"I think you mean who would make her go somewhere," Vincent said.

"You're right Vincent," Cloud agreed. "We have to find her. My guess is that a Turk was here. But which one?" They grabbed their stuff and left the hotel. They headed in the direction of the rebuilt Shin-Ra building.

"It's too bad Rufus didn't die in the Diamond Weapon attack," Squall thought aloud.

"He should have died," Cloud informed Squall. "I think someone must have healed him afterwards at some point. I don't know who, but I wouldn't mind finding out."

"So you mind telling us what you know about Litta?" Squall asked.

"I would rather wait and tell Litta first. After all, it is about her past. She should be the first to hear it, or give me permission to tell anyone else." Vincent nodded, and Squall asked no more questions.

"Keep moving!" Litta had fallen again and had to be picked up by Danis. Litta was hoping to stall enough to give Cloud and the others some time to catch up. "Don't you think I know what you're doing? You're hoping to give those friends of yours time to find you, but they won't be able to get you away from me."

"Wanna bet?" Litta mumbled.

"I heard that." She kicked Litta behind the knees, causing her to fall again. "Stop falling or I might lose my patience with you." Litta got up and kept moving.

"How old are you?" Hopefully I can keep her mind off hurting me.

"Nineteen."

"How long have you been a Turk?"

"Two years. Stop asking questions." Again they moved in silence.

"Why did you become a Turk?" she asked after a while.

"That's none of your business!" she snapped.

"Well what is my business then?" Litta shot back.

"Nothing! Now if you don't keep moving you'll find yourself in a world of pain!" Litta took that moment to kick her leg behind her and trip Danis. It worked, except as Litta got up, Danis grabbed her hair and she fell back down.

"Let me go!"

"You're coming to Shin-Ra with me!"

"No I'm not!"

"Oh yes you are!" They kept up this talk while they struggled on the ground. Litta was attempting to free herself while Danis was holding on tight. Danis kneed Litta in the stomach, while Litta punched her in the face.

"I thought you'd be able to handle her Danis," said a cool voice from the distance. Both stopped moving. Tseng slowly emerged from the shadows. Danis stood up, still gripping Litta's hair tightly.

"I can."

"From what I just witnessed, it appears otherwise."

"I'm doing just fine. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Rufus sent me to see what was taking you so long. I think I have a pretty good idea too."

"You don't need to go telling Rufus I can't handle some teenage girl by myself. I was doing just fine when you showed up." Tseng shot up an eyebrow in disbelief. "I can prove it!"

"I don't need your proof. Rufus needs to see you as soon as possible. I'll take Litta so you can go ahead and talk to him."

"I guess." She handed Litta over to Tseng and ran ahead towards Shin-Ra.

"So nice to see you again Litta."

"Sorry to say I can't say the same for you."

"I see you still aren't the most polite young lady. We'll have to work on that."

"You aren't working on anything that has to do with me!" Tseng slapped her hard across the face.

"Let me reword that. If you aren't polite, I'll teach you." The sarcasm was gone from his voice and replaced by all seriousness.

"Let go of my hair, Tseng." He did. After less than a minute, he slapped her hard again, causing her lip to bleed.

"You didn't say thank you."

"Oh, sorry," she muttered. This time she received a kick to the stomach.

"What do you say?" Litta refused to thank any Turk for anything. He threw her into a tree. She started to get up when she felt pressure on her back from his knee, forcing her back down. "Tell me thank you."

"No." Blood squirt from her lip as she said the word.

"Tell me."

"NO!" More blood. He grabbed her head and rammed it into a tree.

"I'll only ask you once more." She relented.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Her lip was bleeding freely now, but Tseng seemed satisfied. He pulled his knee off and pulled her up, although a bit roughly. When she stood up, she seemed to have lost her sense of up from down. She started to fall forward, and Tseng let her fall.

"Get up," he commanded. She stood up. Where she found the strength to walk, she didn't know, but somehow she made it to Shin-Ra. She wasn't sure if she was considered to be in one piece.

When they reached Rufus' office, she stumbled a few times on the stairs. When they made it up, Danis had just finishing talking to Rufus. She walked down the stairs, and Rufus turned his attention to Tseng.

"I wondered why you were so eager to get Danis for me, but I can see now."

"She was giving me some trouble, so I stopped her, that's all." Litta stood next to Tseng, her lip still bleeding.

"Did she mouth off to you, or was that your personal touch?" Tseng said nothing. "I think that will do. Set her in that chair and go back to work. You will be accompanying Danis on her next mission." Tseng nodded. He put Litta in a chair and left to find Danis.

"I apologize for Tseng's behavior. He can get carried away at times." Litta said nothing. She was afraid that if she did, she would spit blood all over Rufus. "Hmmm. Well, I think we'll need to heal you up befo-"

"No!" She couldn't stop from saying it, but she didn't spit any blood.

"No? Don't you want to be healed? Do you want to stay bruised from Tseng's treatment of you?"

"You know as well as I that I can't be healed with magic." Her lip began to bleed badly again.

"Oh, so you know about that?" She would have said something, but her lip prevented her from doing so. "Since you seem to have nothing to say, Reno will take you to your room." Reno led her to a cell and healed her the minute she reached the bed. After he left she screamed out in pain. She lay on her cot all day, as the pain gradually lessened.

They reached a clearing and saw some signs of a struggle.

"Cloud, over here," Vincent called. Cloud looked where Vincent was pointing. "There's blood on this tree, and it's fairly recent."

"You think it's Litta's?" Cloud asked.

"Yes. A Turk is probably with her."

"Either Reno or Tseng. They're the only ones I know of that don't care how much they hurt a person."

"Someone ran before this though. There are footprints in that direction, away from where this blood is."

"We have to keep moving." Vincent nodded. They grabbed Squall and started off again. When they were getting ready to enter Shin-Ra, they heard someone scream. It was a female scream. Everyone was thinking the same thing: Litta.

"So what now?" Squall asked. Vincent looked at Cloud.

"Have I been elected leader all of a sudden?" No one answered, so he assumed that meant yes. "We need to get her out, but we have to be careful. We want to avoid being detected this time. They have a new Turk, and she was specially trained by Tseng."

"How do you know that?"

"I was there for two years. They let her work on me once, trying to get me to talk. She can be pretty brutal. I want to avoid her."

"Is she the replacement for Elena?" Vincent asked.

"Who knows? It wouldn't take much to replace Elena though." Vincent smiled. They agreed to wait until dark, and then sneak inside.

"Still on that cot?" It was Tseng.

"I thought you were on a mission with Danis."

"I was replaced by Reno, much to the displeasure of Danis."

"Why?"

"That's Turk business."

"What do you want?" She was glad her pain was just about gone.

"I see I didn't teach you much about being polite. Maybe I should schedule you for another lesson." Rufus picked that moment to enter Litta's room.

"I thought you were going to give her her dinner Tseng?"

"Sorry Sir. Just-"

"Can you not see that this girl is actually scared of you?"

"For good reason too."

"That is not the point Tseng. Get back to work." Tseng looked disappointed, but left without a word. "Again I apologize for Tseng." Why is he being so nice? Is he trying to catch me off guard? Well if he is, I won't let him. I'll play along and then see what information I can get out of him. She suddenly realized she had no idea what Rufus was saying. "…if you promise not to run away."

"Sorry, what?"

"Did you not hear me?"

"I'm afraid I didn't."

"I said I would move you into a room that's inaccessible to Tseng if you promised not to run away." She wasn't sure she had heard him right. A room inaccessible to Tseng? What is he after? Does he think he can get information out of me by offering me an escape from Tseng?

"I can't promise you that, so I'll have to pass."

"I see. Perhaps you'll talk for other offers." He was obviously thinking aloud, so Litta decided not to interrupt. "Follow me please." It was an order. Even with his polite way of saying it she knew. She followed him into the lab. Not again. Rufus continued walking though.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere a little more private." That can't be good. Maybe I should try to get away. He doesn't seem to be paying attention. But before she could, a door shut behind her and she was in another lab.

"What is this place?"

"It's for some of my more...dangerous experiments."

"What do you mean dangerous?"

"Oh, different sorts of things. You'll soon find out. Please stand by that table over there." She had no choice but to do as she was told. Again she was placed on a table, waiting for what would happen next. Suddenly the door was broken down and Vincent came in.

"What are you doing Rufus?" he asked.

"No hello Vincent?"

"I asked you a question."

"I see then. What does it look like I'm doing Vincent? Don't you recognize this room? the equipment? the procedure?" Vincent was getting angry.

"Let her go."

"I need to see if the experiment still works. You remember what it was like when you were in here with Hojo, don't you?" That seemed to do it. Vincent doubled over in pain. He seemed to be mumbling to himself, and Litta noticed he was changing again.

"Rufus, what did you do?" Litta asked. She was actually afraid of what was happening to Vincent. Then she realized she was no longer strapped to the table. She got up immediately.

"I just jogged his memory a little, that's all." Vincent was now fully transformed, and Litta didn't like the look of him.

"You're a fool Rufus," said a voice that didn't belong to Vincent. It was coming from Vincent, but it sounded completely evil. Rufus didn't respond. Litta moved towards the wall until she was as far away from Vincent as she could get.

"Litta, I don't believe you've met Chaos." Litta slowly turned her head from Vincent to Rufus. Litta said nothing, she couldn't find any words. "We did an experiment on Vincent here, and this was the result." At that moment some sounds came from outside the room. Cloud and Squall came in, but stopped when they saw Vincent.

"What did you do Rufus?" Cloud asked.

"I just mentioned past events, that's all."

"Litta, get over here now," Cloud ordered her. She didn't respond immediately.

"I can't," she said at last.

"Squall and I can hold Vincent back if we need to, but we have to leave now." Litta began slowly moving towards Cloud, staying along the wall. Chaos turned his attention to her. Rufus took that moment to run across the room. He made it out, pushing Cloud and Squall out with him.

"Where do you think you're going Rufus?" Cloud questioned.

"Oh nowhere, just like you." Rufus shut the door and sealed it. He had trapped Litta inside with Chaos.

"Open the door!" Cloud and Squall shouted at the same time.

"I'm afraid not," he said even after they had pulled their blades out. "You really don't need those." Tseng had come up behind Squall and now put a gun to his head.

"Both of you drop your swords or I shoot him." They put their swords down.

"Good," Rufus said. "If you'll excuse me now gentlemen, I-"

"Where do you think you're off to?" Squall asked. "Unlock that door this instant!"

"Why?"

"Are you actually going to leave Litta in there with Chaos?"

"That's where I'm going." Squall was confused but kept talking.

"How can you just keep her in there? Don't you have a conscience?"

"I guess I was born without one." Cloud suddenly understood. He's trying to stall him. If I could reach my sword... He began slowly moving toward his sword, while Squall continued arguing with Rufus. Tseng had his attention on Squall, so Cloud wasn't being watched.

"Cloud, Squall!" Litta yelled, but the door didn't open. She had moved over to the door slowly, aware she was trapped with Chaos. He watched her every move and followed her with his eyes. He hadn't moved or spoken since the door closed.

Litta turned back to Chaos. What do I do? I can't hurt him, Vincent is still in there. But what if he attacks me? Do I fight back? She was still thinking when Chaos moved.

"What are you doing?" No answer. "Please, Vincent, I don't want to hurt you." He stopped for a second, as if questioning himself, then kept moving towards her.

Suddenly he leapt towards her. She moved away from the door and ran across the room. He turned and came after her again. She moved, but this time kicked the operating table into his path. He didn't move in time and it knocked him against the wall. He didn't move, so Litta slowly got up. She walked towards him, not sure what to do. When she got close, she studied him for a bit. Then he came to life and sprang straight at her. She moved to the side to avoid being hit. He landed and came at her again. She ran to the other side of the room, diving behind the control panel and the computer. She heard him walking around, and he eventually came to where she was. She tried to jump back over when he leapt towards her, but he caught her leg just before it went over.

"Let me go!" she screamed. It did no good, she couldn't get away.

Cloud reached his sword and quickly held it to Tseng's throat. "Put down your gun."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll kill you." Tseng knew he was serious, so he put down his gun. "Good. Squall, watch Tseng while I deal with Rufus." Squall picked up his blade and Tseng's gun.

"What are you planning to do Cloud?" Rufus didn't seem worried at all.

"I want you to open that door."

"I wondered if that was what you wanted."

"Then do it."

"I'm afraid I don't know the password."

"Yes you do."

"Only Sans does. I have them in my computer of course, but I don't know then off the top of my head."

"You're lying."

"Why would I lie?" Cloud didn't know what to do. He's got to be lying, but what if he isn't?

"Call Sans in here then."

"I'm afraid Sans took the day off. I could go to my computer and-"

"No. If you want to do it this way, fine. Send Tseng to get them though. Squall, go with him." Squall left with Tseng to get the password. When they came back, Tseng gave it to Rufus.

"Thank you Tseng."

"Now open the door Rufus." Once it was opened, Squall ran into the room. He came out again dragging Vincent behind him and carrying Litta over one shoulder.

"They're both unconscious," he told Cloud.

"We'll be leaving you now Rufus." He cast sleep on each of them, and anyone else they met along the way.

"Where are we going Cloud?"

"I don't know. Just away from here right now." Cloud took Vincent from Squall, and they said no more. They stopped to rest when they were a ways into the forest.

"How's Vincent doing?" Squall asked.

"He's starting to wake up." At that moment Vincent sat up as Litta woke up.

"What happened?" he asked. He looked at Litta and realized what he had done. Litta looked at Squall.

"Why did you guys shut the door on me?" She was avoiding Vincent; still not sure of what had happened with him.

"Rufus locked it," Cloud answered simply.

"If we had had the password, we would have opened the door sooner," Squall told her.

"What happened with Rufus?"

"He had the password in his office," Cloud explained. "We had to get it before we could open the door. What happened with you?" She realized she was sore all over, from fighting with Vincent. Or was it Vincent? she wondered.

"Shouldn't we keep moving Cloud?" Squall asked. Cloud thought for a second.

"Maybe. Vincent, are you ready to keep moving?" Vincent nodded and stood up. "Litta?"

"I..." She tried to get up, but her arms wouldn't hold her up long enough.

"Don't think so," Squall finished for her. He went over and gently picked her up. Vincent and Cloud remained silent. "Where to Cloud?"

"I think we should head to Midgar," Vincent suggested. "They rebuilt a town over the remains," he added when he saw the look on Cloud's face.

"How long ago was that built?" Cloud asked.

"About two years ago." Cloud nodded. They set off towards Midgar and reached it in about two hours. They checked into a hotel and went to bed hoping to get some sleep. Litta woke up in the middle of the night.

She sat up for a while, still very sore. It was the same dream about Cloud, but how is that possible? At that moment, Cloud opened her door. He came in when he saw her sitting up.

"You're up! I thought you'd be asleep."

"I woke up."

"Any reason in particular?" Should I tell him?

"Yes," she said slowly. "I had a dream about you, one I've had before."

"What was it about?" She told him. "Have you had any other dreams?" She told him all the dreams she could remember.

"What do you know about me Cloud?"

"I only know so much. The rest is speculation and rumors."

"Then tell me what you know." That's easier said than done, he thought. Where do I start?

"Are you sure you want to hear everything right now?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"There are some things you might not understand."

"Just explain it to me then. I have been wandering around since I was 15, without any clues to my past. You are the only one, besides Sephiroth, that knows what happened to me. I have seen glimpses of my past through some dreams and heard bits from different people, but not enough. You are the only one that can fill in the blanks in my life."

"I realize you want to know about your life, but there are still some blanks I can't fill in just yet."

"Then tell me some of the ones you do know."

"Anything in particular?" She thought for a moment. There are so many questions I want to ask.

"Who was my mother?"

"I don't know that yet. I was hoping to-" Before he could finish the sentence, Litta's door opened and Sephiroth walked in.

"Hello Litta, Cloud."

"What are you doing here Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

"I should ask you the same question. Are you planning to kill my daughter the same way you did me?"

"I have no intention of hurting Litta."

"Really? Is that why you're in her room in the middle of the night?"

"I came in here to talk to her."

"I was asking him questions about my mother," Litta put in.

"You can come to me with questions about your past."

"Even my mother?"

"I think that is a bit of a sensitive area concerning Cloud. Perhaps we had better discuss this privately."

"Why is that a sensitive area?" Cloud asked.

"Her mother was someone you knew, a good friend of yours."

"Who?"

"Aeris." Cloud stood stock still. That's not possible. I saw you kill her.

"Who is Aeris?" Litta asked. Before anyone could respond, Vincent came in.

"I think I'll take my leave now." Sephiroth walked out the door, leaving everyone in a stunned silence. Vincent spoke first.

"What was Sephiroth doing here?" Cloud told him what was said. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"I don't know, and there's not a lot of ways we can find out."

"There's one way."

"No. We'll find another way, but I think we should go back to bed for now." Vincent nodded, so they left Litta in her room.

How can you find out? Why won't they tell me? Maybe it has to do with Sephiroth, or Shin-Ra. If I went to Shin-Ra, they won't kill me and I might be able to get the information. If I could sneak in unnoticed I wouldn't even have to worry about the Turks.

She got up, slowly, and grabbed her guns. She almost healed herself, but stopped when she realized what she was doing. She silently walked past the other rooms and out the door. She headed back in the direction of Shin-Ra. It was still very early in the morning when she arrived, so she didn't meet anyone on the way up. She reached the seventieth floor and sat down at the computer. Rufus had already logged on, but apparently forgot to sign out. She took another look around but saw no one. At least I'm safe for now.

She turned her attention to the computer screen. There were different files she could open such as: Experiments, Specimens, Turks, etc. She clicked on the link labeled "DNA". Within that folder there were about fifty files. She looked through them and found one with her name. She opened it:

Litta, last name unknown:

Father: Sephiroth

Biological Mother: Aeris Gainsborough

Foster Mother: unknown

DNA Transfer: Aeris Gainsborough's DNA was taken along with Sephiroth's to create Litta; Hojo performed experiment

At the bottom of the screen there was another link. It was labeled "History". She moved the mouse and was ready to click on it.

"I don't remember giving you permission to use my computer." Rufus turned it off.

"That was my history. I have a right to know about my past."

"True, but without the assistance of my computer."

"Fine, I'll leave you with your computer then."

"I don't think you'll be leaving, but I'll make you a deal." Litta was suspicious. She didn't have a choice though, because Tseng had come up behind her and had a gun in her back.

"What kind of deal?"

"If you become a Turk and work for me, I'll keep the Turks away from your friends. If you do a good job I might even give you some information about your past." Litta though about this. Everyone would be safe. They could stop worrying about me, and I would be safe from Vincent. I might even find out about my past.

"What would I be doing if I agreed?" She wanted to make it clear that she wasn't agreeing quite yet.

"Just a few odd jobs. Nothing horrible."

"How long would I have to work for you?"

"As long as you want your friends to stay safe and an easy way to get information about your past. Are you interested?"

"How long is this offer good for?"

"The next five minutes."

"Would I have time to tell the others what I'm doing?"

"No, if you do I will kill your friends. You have to give me your answer now, and if you accept you start right away." She thought for another minute before she answered. I can always leave later on, but for now Squall and the others would be safe.

"Okay. I'll work for you."