Chapter 2

Vincent had been following Cloud since they left Maetar. They hadn't gone in any specific direction, but Vincent wasn't surprised when they were getting close to Shin-Ra.

"Do you realize where we are?" he asked Cloud.

"Yes. I wasn't able to decide before where we should go. But now I realize that if anyone has answers, it's Rufus Shinra. Vincent, did you hear me?" Vincent was looking off towards a mountain a ways away.

"I heard you. I think we should head towards that mountain."

"Why? Do you see someone?" Vincent just started walking, so Cloud followed. It wasn't long before they spotted Squall.

"Vincent, Cloud, what brings you here?"

"Vincent," Cloud told him. Cloud looked at Squall, then Danis. Litta was partially hiding behind Squall, but Cloud said nothing.

"We have a problem," Squall told them.

"What kind of problem?" Cloud asked.

"Tell them what you told us Danis." She explained everything she had seen and heard while up on the mountain. She told about Jenova, then the conversation between Sephiroth and Ultimacia.

So Jenova is alive, Vincent thought. We have some hard battles ahead of us, and not even with just our enemy. I can tell there are going to be some battles within this group as well. "Litta, could I talk to you?" Litta was surprised, but went with Vincent.

"About what?" He led her away from the group, so they wouldn't be overheard.

"About Cloud." She looked down at the ground. "I know how Cloud still feels about you, and I saw how you reacted to his presence. You can't hide from him; you're going to have to talk this out with him." Still without looking up, Litta spoke.

"How can I? I've killed two of his closest friends, one of them was my friend, I brought back his worst enemy, and now two more enemies are back because of me. If I tried to talk to him, he would probably kill me. Not that I blame him for that. And now I might never find out the answers to my past. He's never going to be willing to tell me what I want to know. Why should he? I've caused him nothing but pain!" She looked up at Vincent, but it wasn't Vincent standing there. Cloud was in his place. "When did you get there?"

"About a minute ago. I heard you talking loudly and came over to see what you were saying."

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Most of it. Is that how you really feel?"

"Yes." Her voice had grown steadily quieter during her responses, and now her voice was a mere whisper.

"You don't have to feel like that. You didn't cause all of these problems by yourself. It's not like you knew what you were doing when you read that book."

"What about Yuffie?"

"You said yourself she was your friend. And besides, I know for a fact that Yuffie wouldn't want you so down about her."

"She was too upbeat for that," Litta commented. "So where did Vincent go?"

"He's talking with Squall." Litta and Cloud walked back over.

"Are things better now?" Vincent asked.

"Did you plan that?" Litta asked him.

"I might have. What of it?"

"What of it? I felt like an idiot." Vincent just smiled. "It's not funny!" She noticed Squall had turned around and was laughing. "Squall!" He turned back around.

"What?" The look she gave him made him burst out laughing all over again. Litta looked at Cloud who was also laughing, then back to Vincent. Even he was chuckling. Litta noticed Danis watching off to the side.

"You're not laughing?"

"It might be a little funny, but not that much," she pointed Squall and the others. Litta walked over to Danis, leaving the guys laughing.

"So are you still after Sephiroth?"

"Of course I am."

"Are you still after me?" Danis didn't answer right away.

"I guess not."

"When did you change your mind?"

"I don't want to chase you off. Then I'd be stuck with a bunch of guys by myself." They started laughing, so the guys came over.

"What are you two laughing at?" Squall asked.

"You guys," Danis told them. Litta and Danis kept laughing, while the other three looked at them.

"I think they've lost it," Squall said. Vincent and Cloud nodded in agreement. After a few more minutes, Litta and Danis calmed down.

"So where to now?" Danis asked.

"We should head to Deling City, since that's closest," Cloud said. "We can rest and talk there." It took about twenty minutes to get there, and Litta walked in the back with Danis.

"It's nice to not have to worry about you trying to kidnap me," Litta said.

"Yeah, since you're so easy to catch."

"I'm easy to catch! You're the one that tried to take on Sephiroth."

"At least I'm not related to him!" Litta tried to look hurt.

"I didn't lose my mind and join the Turks, by choice at least."

"At least I had a mind to lose." By this time they were trying not to laugh and they reached Deling City.

"You two seemed to be having a lot of fun back there," Vincent commented. Danis and Litta looked at each other.

"We're just getting along better, that's all," Danis said.

"You two never really got along before," Squall added. "Why the sudden change?" Litta and Danis remained quiet, while trying to hold in their laughter.

"I think we should leave them alone and worry about where to stay," Cloud suggested.

"I know where we can stay," Squall told them.

"Then lead the way." Cloud let Squall take the lead. Litta joined him up front.

"This is the first place you took me to when I ran into you, remember?" she asked.

"Yeah." Litta wondered why he was so quiet. Oh wait. His friend used to live here, and then she was killed after we left her. What was her name? Rinoa, that's it. Didn't Squall like her or something? Litta continued thinking until they reached the hotel. She and Danis were paired together.

"I think you two will be safe together now," Vincent told them. They just looked at each other with silent agreement. When they were alone, they talked and laughed for quite a while.

"I can't believe how much I disliked you before," Danis exclaimed.

"Yeah. It's hard to remember why we never got along." Danis gave her a look. "Okay, so I know why we didn't get along, but it's still amazing how well we get along now."

"Agreed." They eventually went to bed, but they weren't in for a pleasant night.

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

They were walking for some time without any conversation. When they reached a town, they went directly to the hotel.

"Remember, we don't want to cause a lot of noise." The other nodded. They walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms. "I'll take this one, you take the other." He walked over to a bed, as did the other guy.

The first guy began picking up someone roughly, dropping her back onto her bed. The other guy was busy picking up his own person.

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

Litta felt herself fall onto her bed, then being picked up again. When she opened her eyes Reno was trying to pick her up. He quickly put his hand over her mouth before she could scream.

"Stay quiet or you'll be sorry." When she continued to struggle, he kneed her in the stomach. She quit moving, and he put her over his shoulder. Litta looked towards Danis and saw Krad picking her up. Danis was still sleeping.

After they got to Shin-Ra, Krad took Danis and Reno brought Litta to a cell. He dropped her on the bed. Litta took the opportunity to get some answers.

"What do you want Reno?"

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"Rufus is never going to let you get away from him. You can't hide from him."

"I can hide from anyone. If I can hide from Sephiroth, then I can hide from Rufus." Reno said nothing. He just walked out and locked the door. Great, now what am I going to do? I don't even have my guns with me. How am I going to get out of here? Hopefully Danis is doing better than I am.

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Krad put Danis on the bed. She was already waking up, so she sat up the minute he put her down.

"What are you doing here? Wait, where am I?"

"You're back at Shin-Ra. Where else would you be?"

"Why am I here?"

"I brought you here."

"Why?"

"It's my job, and probably one of the most pleasant I've had."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Not that I really want to know. Krad just smiled. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I told you, it was my job." I'm obviously not going to get anything out of him. Maybe I can talk to Rufus later. Wait, I don't think I want to talk to him. He might not be over the fact that I quit the Turks. "So what's a girl like you doing with a group of people like Cloud Strife and the rest of them?"

"A girl like me? What kind of girl am I?"

"The kind that doesn't like to depend on people, someone who likes to be alone and depend on themselves."

"Well, I like having friends like 'them'."

"Interesting. What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Am I your friend?" How am I supposed to answer that?

"I don't hardly even know you."

"Perhaps I should change that then."

"No, that's okay. I think I can decide for myself without your help." Krad sat down on her bed and smiled. "Why are you smiling again?"

"No reason."

"Really." Danis didn't believe that. So is he going to stay in here all night or do I get to go back to sleep? "So can I get some sleep now or what?"

"Or what." Danis looked at him confused. "You said can I get some sleep or what. I told you 'or what'. Is that a problem?"

"Yes. I just want to finish sleeping while I still can. Is that all right with you?"

"No, because I'm not done talking to you."

"Well I'm through listening." She fell back on the bed and put the pillow over her head. After a few minutes, she realized Krad hadn't moved. She slowly lifted the pillow from her face. He was still sitting on her bed, smiling. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She started kicking and punching him until he left, then locked the door.

"I guess I'll talk to you in the morning then?" he asked through the door. She didn't respond. She just went to sleep, hoping to wake up and find this all a bad dream.