Chapter 5

When Squall and Litta reached the hotel, Cloud was gone. He probably went looking for me. He decided to wait for Cloud, figuring it would be better than leaving Litta alone.

"Why don't you get some sleep. We can talk in the morning." Litta merely shook her head and curled up in a ball. She was asleep within minutes. Squall sat in her room or stood out in the hallway while he waited for Cloud. When Cloud returned an hour later, Vincent wasn't long in returning after him.

"Where did you go?" Cloud asked.

"I went to get Litta."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that. Why are you back so soon?"

"It was easier than I thought. She's sleeping now."

"She's here?"

"Yes. Why did you and Vincent leave?"

"It's a long story," he told Squall.

"I think we should all get some sleep and talk in the morning," Cloud told them. When everyone was settled, Squall went back into Litta's room. She hadn't moved since he left.

I'll be waiting if any Turks try to get in here. I won't let them mess with her any more. He stayed awake for about an hour before dozing off. After that, Litta began turning in her sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At first, everything was black. Then a light began to shine and Litta saw Sephiroth falling from the sky. He had his sword and put it through a young woman. Cloud was standing there. He caught the woman as she fell. Litta saw him mouth the word "Aeris". Conversations began taking place. Cloud was talking to himself and Sephiroth to himself. Litta couldn't hear what was being said at first, but eventually she began hearing their voices.

"What about my pain?" Cloud asked himself. He gently placed Aeris on the ground. "My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!" Sephiroth looked at Cloud.

"What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?" Cloud whirled around and faced Sephiroth.

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Sephiroth started laughing.

"Stop acting as if you were sad." He continued laughing. "There's no need to act as though you're angry either." Sephiroth rose into the sky a little. Blackness began veiling the scene. The voices became faint and Litta couldn't hear them anymore.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Squall was woken up by a loud noise not long after he fell asleep. He looked around and saw that Litta had fallen off the bed. She was awake now and sitting up.

"Litta, are you all right?" She didn't answer. She didn't even move. "Litta? Did you hear me?" Still no movement. He got out of his chair and knelt down by where she was sitting. "What's wrong?" As she turned her head towards him, he saw tears rolling down her face.

"He killed her," was all she said. She put her head on Squall's shoulder and leaned against him. What do I do? I can't leave her here like this to go get anyone. He put his arm around her and held her for a while. Eventually she stopped crying. He decided to see if she was ready to talk.

"Litta?" She looked up at him. "Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?" He wouldn't understand. He probably doesn't even know who Aeris is.

"Have you ever heard of someone named Aeris?"

"Cloud told me a little bit about her."

"When I went to Shin-Ra a while ago, I wanted to find out information about my mother. I found a file on Rufus' computer about my DNA. It said my biological mother was Aeris. I had a foster mother growing up, but my DNA came from Aeris."

"So what does this have to do with your dream?"

"In my dream I saw Sephiroth kill Aeris. Then he started laughing and taunting Cloud. I don't understand how he could be so evil, or how I'm related to him." Squall said nothing. He didn't know what he could say. He just sat there with her until he thought of something.

"I think you should get some sleep. You can ask Cloud about this in the morning." Litta agreed so he put her back in her bed. He then went back to his own bed. If no one has come to get her yet, they aren't going to tonight. Hopefully she'll sleep and won't have another dream. Squall stopped thinking about it and went to sleep.

The next morning Litta was up bright and early. Squall was also and decided to see if Cloud was awake. He was, so Squall told him to talk to Litta when he got a chance.

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"She had a dream, and she wants to ask you some questions about it." Cloud entered Litta's room and found her awake.

"I was told you have some questions for me?"

"In a way yes. I'm sure it was Squall who told you to talk to me, right?"

"That's right."

"So I'm sure he also told you that I had a dream." Again Cloud said yes. "Tell me how Aeris died."

"I haven't talked about her in a long time." Cloud took a deep breath. "We were in the City of the Ancients, and she was trying to save the planet. I went to talk to her and Sephiroth came down from above. He put his sword through her and killed her."

"How could Sephiroth do that to her? To anyone?"

"Sephiroth thought he was trying to become one with the planet. He also thought his mother was Jenova."

"But she's not?"

"No. His real mother, his birth mother, is Lucrecia."

"Who's Lucrecia? I've never heard of her."

"That's another story, and a long one I might add. I have a question for you though."

"A question for me? You're the one who's supposed to have all the answers."

"I have a question all the same."

"Ask away."

"Why did you ask about Aeris?"

"I thought Squall told you about my dream?"

"He told me you had a dream, not what it was about."

"Oh. It was a scene that wasn't from my past. It was Aeris dying."

"Is that the only reason you asked about her?"

"No. When I was at Shin-Ra, I looked at my file and saw that Aeris was my real mother. It's her DNA I have."

"I wondered if you had found that out. Can I ask you something else?" Litta nodded. "What is the earliest thing you remember?" She thought for a moment.

"I don't quite, remember it, but I had a dream about my mother dying. Not Aeris, the woman I grew up with."

"What happened in that dream?"

"It was just her in a hospital bed before she died. She wanted to tell me something, but Sephiroth wouldn't let her."

"I know how she died."

"How?"

"She wanted to tell you about Aeris and that she wasn't your real mother, but Sephiroth didn't want you to know. He found out that she was going to tell you anyways, so he poisoned her."

"Even before she died she tried to tell me. But didn't Sephiroth care about her?"

"I don't know."

"Well I want to ask him."

"Are you sure you want to see him again?" She thought a second.

"Yes. I want answers from him."

"I think we ought to head out then. You feel up to that?"

"I'm fine. Are Squall and Vincent up?"

"Squall is, and Vincent probably is by now too." When everyone was ready they headed in the direction of Wutai.

"Why are we going to Wutai?" Litta asked Cloud.

"It's kind of on the way to Nibelheim, which is where I think we'll find Sephiroth." Litta fell to the back of the group, leaving Cloud in the front with Vincent. Squall noticed Litta and fell behind with her.

"You all right?"

"I'm good," she answered quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"You just got quiet and fell behind. I wondered if something was wrong."

"Well, nothing's wrong." Squall shrugged and said no more. When they reached Wutai, Litta thought hard to find a way out. I can't go in there. I'm the one who killed her. If Cloud finds out, he might never tell me what he knows about my past. I don't want to think about what Vincent will do. And what if someone recognizes me? They reached Yuffie's house and Cloud walked in. Vincent followed, but Litta stayed behind.

"Litta, are you sure nothing's wrong?" Squall had stayed behind with her.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," she answered quickly again. Suddenly they heard a scream from within. Oh no, he found her. Maybe he won't find out I did it. Squall was starting to lead her in when Cloud and Vincent came out.

"Yuffie's dead!" Cloud shouted.

"But how?" Squall asked. "I warned her and she left. She wasn't supposed to get killed."

"Well she obviously came back," Cloud retorted.

"Don't blame me," Squall said. "I warned her."

"You should have made sure she didn't come back," Cloud said hotly.

"Cloud, calm down," Vincent said quietly. "Accusing each other won't do anything." Cloud appeared to be too angry to be able to listen to reason.

"He was the last one to talk to her before she died. He says he warned her, but it looks to me like she's dead anyways!" No one spoke to Cloud, which made things worse. "So now you can't even defend yourself!" Cloud seemed to be going insane. "First Red XIII and now Yuffie! You'd think the Turks were just killing off my friends now!"

"Squall, why don't you take Litta away while I try to calm Cloud down." Squall nodded and led Litta away. They could hear Cloud screaming in the background.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with this would you?" Litta looked at the ground.

"No. I don't have anything to do with this."

"Look at me and tell me that." She kept her face down.

"I already told you I had nothing to do with it. Isn't that good enough?"

"I want you to look at me." She continued looking at the ground. Squall was fed up. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"I didn't want to," she confessed. "Reno made me. If I hadn't, he would have and I would have been in even bigger trouble."

"Was this your first mission as a Turk?"

"No."

"What was your first mission?"

"It was killing something named Red XIII."

"You killed him!"

"You knew him?"

"Yes, and so did Cloud. He said he'd kill whoever was involved in his death too." Litta almost looked sick for a minute.

"Does he know it was me?"

"No." Squall reached into his pocket and pulled out her necklace. "You left this there though."

"Thank you for bringing it with you."

"You're welcome. I don't think you should tell Cloud what you told me. He might lose his mind and try to kill you."

"I wasn't planning on it." They fell silent for a while and all they could hear was Cloud in the distance, although he had gotten a little quieter. Squall then remembered he still had Litta's book.

"I still have your book. Do you want it back?"

"I don't know. Whenever I've needed it, it was because Sephiroth wanted it. If he asks that again, I don't want to have it on me. I'd have to lie though and I don't want to think about what he'd do if he found out I lied again."

"Good point. Would you like me to still hold on to it for you?"

"No. I'll go ahead and take it." Litta looked around for a second. "I don't hear Cloud anymore, do you?"

"No. I think it's safe to go back now."

"Safe for you," she mumbled.

"I'm not going to tell him if that's what you're afraid of."

"No. I just can't believe I did it. It's like I'm turning into Sephiroth and becoming a heartless killing machine."

"Don't say that. You're nothing like Sephiroth." Litta just followed him back to where they left Cloud and Vincent. Cloud was sitting on the steps to Yuffie's house. Vincent was just coming out of the front door.

"Good, you're back," Vincent said when he saw them approaching.

"Is Cloud okay now?" Squall asked.

"He's a bit calmer, if that's what you mean. He's still upset about it, so try not to bring it up."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Litta said quietly.

"Litta, what happened?" Vincent asked without warning.

"What do you mean?"

"When you were with the Turks? And today," he added.

"Oh, that. Well, I only had two missions," she told him lamely.

"What were those missions?" Why did he have to ask, she thought, especially with Cloud sitting right there. Could he know?

"Why don't I tell you about it some other time."

"What's wrong with now?"

"Why are you insisting on knowing this instant?"

"Why are you refusing to tell me?"

"Why are you both speaking to each other in questions?" Squall interrupted. They stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Litta apologized.

"Sorry Vincent. I wasn't trying to be rude." That's true enough. I just was trying to avoid your question.

"But I do want to know if you had anything to do with Yuffie's death."

"I told Squall and I'm telling you. No, I had nothing to do with this." Vincent didn't seem to believe her, but Squall interrupted again.

"Where are we going now?" Cloud had joined them at this point, so he answered.

"We'll continue on our way to Nibelheim." As they walked, Vincent pulled Litta behind Squall and Cloud.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"You really believe I had something to do with it, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I had nothing to do with her death."

"And you're not lying to me?"

"No." Vincent thought for a minute.

"All right. I believe you, for now."

"Thank you." He stopped talking to her and caught up to Cloud.

So I'm safe for now. He's still skeptical, but that's because I really am lying to him. But I don't want to upset him. What he doesn't know can't hurt him. Litta had been concentrating so hard she didn't hear anyone come up behind her. Suddenly something hard was rammed into the back of her head and she blacked out.