Chapter 17

Blood Spilt

Kali stretched and stood slowly. After first regaining consciousness, she and Kadaj remained in bed for three more days. It was rather enjoyable. Cid, Reno, Rude, Yuffie, and Sachiko practically waited on them hand and foot. Kali sighed as she slid her socks on her feet. Her bruises were considerably smaller and her cuts had scabbed over wonderfully, so she knew that the treatment wouldn't last much longer. Looking over at her brother, Kali couldn't help smiling. He was sitting up against the pillows and dozing, a book lying open in his lap. How often that had happened to her, Kali was unsure. She walked over silently and laughed when she saw the book. He had been reading Four Past Midnight. Looking at her bag, she found it unzipped. She quietly marked the place and placed the book next to the bed before shaking him gently.

"Kadaj? Are you awake?" she whispered. He opened his eyes slowly.

"You feel any better?" he muttered. He rubbed his eyes and massaged his burned hand. "Seem better than me, anyway."

"You'll be fine soon. Sachiko said so," Kali said quietly, her eyes looking to the ground slightly.

"You jealous of her?" Kadaj asked in disbelief. Kali shook her head and smiled.

"Of course not. I was about to go downstairs. Can I bring you something?"

"Yeah," he said slowly and grinned. "They got any booze down there?"

"I doubt they'll let you have any," Kali smiled. "How about a bowl of soup? A glass of milk maybe?"

"Yeah, I guess soup will be fine. Thanks kid," he said quietly. He clasped her hand tightly.

"Kadaj? Thank you," Kali said gently. When he looked at her strangely, she brushed his bangs away to look into his big green eyes. "You've done so much. You took care of my ankle and you saved me from the train. Back in the dungeon, you made Nanashi let go of me. You put my life before yours when you covered me from the blast. Thank you, my brother."

"You're my baby sister," he said. Kadaj smiled up at her softly. "I would give anything for your safety. I know father would want that if he were here. I can almost imagine what he would have said the day you were born. 'Kadaj, you take care of her. Don't you let her out of your sight. Don't let anyone push her around or hurt her. Put Kali before yourself.'"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I really do," Kadaj nodded after watching her a moment. He wrapped his arms around her. "We might have known each other for only a couple of weeks, but I love you, little sis."

"I love you, too, big bro," she replied. She returned the hug and turned to go downstairs. "I'll be back in a few."

Kali walked down the staircase slowly so as not to open her wounds or agitate her bruises. She glanced out the window on the way down and her heart sank. She moved faster and burst into the kitchen where the others were making lunch for her and Kadaj.

"How do you feel, Kali?" Yuffie asked as she walked in. She was suddenly worried at Kali's pale complexion. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"We have to leave now," she whispered hoarsely. She coughed to clear her throat.

"Why?" Reno asked nervously.

"Tifa and Marlene are on their way here. They'll be here any minute."

"Oh, my god," Cid muttered as he stood. Sachiko looked up at them questioningly.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"Very bad news," Rude answered. They ran upstairs to gather their things and get Kadaj. A horrible sight met them when they had their bags and walked into Kadaj's room.

"Don't move," Tifa snapped. She had Kadaj's uninjured arm behind his back and he was on his knees. His face was curled into a mixed look of rage and pain. Marlene stood next to him with a pistol next to his skull.

"Kill them," Kadaj moaned through gritted teeth. "They can kill me if they want, but make sure you kill them or run."

"What do you want?" Kali whispered. Her hand went to her side, ready to grasp Masamune, but the sound of the pistol cocking stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless of course, you want him to know what poor Vincent went through to die," Marlene smiled.

"Marlene, what are you doing? You used to be a good girl!" Cid cried.

"That was before the Meteor crap. Do you realize what's happened to me?" she said. "I was kidnapped to make sure AVALANCHE did what the Turks wanted. Two years later, his buddy," she muttered, the pistol digging slightly into his skull, "tried to use me to bring Denzel out of hiding. Just a few weeks ago, I watched Cloud be put into the ground and papa die. That type of stuff tends to change a girl, especially when she becomes old enough to realize the significance of those events."

"Oh, cry me a river," Reno rolled his eyes. "Do you think watching Vincent die wasn't tough on us?"

"It wasn't tough on you. Kali was the only one to watch it."

"How did you…?" Cid gasped. Everyone was taken aback. Tifa only laughed.

"I know now. Thank you, Cid. Now Reno, why do you say Vincent's death was tough on you? You wanted him to die, right?" Tifa reminded him. Reno shook his head immediately. "You said many times after our little trip fifteen years ago that you were glad Vincent got killed."

"Reno?" Yuffie gasped as he shook his head at her.

"I know what you're thinking, Yuffie. It's not like it sounds. I know just as well as you do what he went through in his life. I wanted him to die so he would be at peace and happy and with Lucrecia again."

"Of course you did," Tifa said with a smirk. "That's why you tried so hard to keep him from going to the grave, right?"

"Huh," he sighed. Reno had no comeback. His gaze turned to Yuffie. He froze when he saw the anger and pain in her eyes as she stared. She turned away before he spoke further.

"What do you want?" Yuffie repeated. Her voice trembled.

"Give us Kali and Sachiko and we'll forget about you," Marlene told them with a nod in their direction.

"And you'll let Kadaj go?" Sachiko whispered hopefully. Kadaj looked up at her and shook his head even though she couldn't see.

"Sachiko, no. Run, please," he pleaded. His eyes began burning with tears when she shook her head.

"How sweet that the two lovebirds don't want each other to die. But no," Tifa shrugged. "We keep the three of them and the rest of you keep your lives. Either way, he dies," she said solemnly as she turned his arm farther. Kadaj yelled in pain as he felt he muscles and bones straining to stay in place and not break.

"What about Sachiko? She doesn't have anything to do with this," Cid pointed out. He took a step to block her from going forward.

"Shinra has offered quite an impressive reward for her safe return. Besides, with the two of them being in love, there's no telling what has happened since the banquet. Sachiko could have Kadaj's child growing inside her right now for all we know," Tifa explained.

"We haven't slept together!" Kadaj snapped, his face turning somewhat red. "We've barely laid a hand on each other."

"And you expect us to take your word for it?" Tifa said cruelly. "We can't let Sephiroth's little family continue to grow now, can we? That is, if you can call the two of you a family."

"So what's it going to be?" Marlene smiled. She looked at the others.

"I'll go," Kali said quietly. Sachiko agreed and held Kali's hand.

"We'll go together," she muttered. Tifa smiled. Nobody noticed Kadaj's gaze turning to the corner.

"Good girls. Now come here and we'll leave."

"If you knew who Sachiko's mother was, you wouldn't be so quick to turn her over to Shinra or kill her," Kadaj said suddenly. Everyone froze and stared at him.

"Kadaj, who was my mother?" Sachiko demanded. "If you know who my parents are, please tell me!"

"Yes, tell us," Tifa ordered. Kadaj smiled and looked over his shoulder.

"I'll tell you if you put down the gun and let them go."

"We'll put the gun down," Tifa nodded towards Marlene, "but they are still our prisoners."

"Very well. Her mother," Kadaj began as Marlene put the gun on the floor. He took a deep breath and said quickly, "Is none of your fucking business. Now!"

Kadaj lowered his head and a bullet flew over it. The room was silent as Rude stepped from the shadows, a gun raised and smoking. Tifa yelped and grabbed her arm as the bullet hit and she started bleeding heavily. She let go of Kadaj and he grabbed his bag while running for the door. The others followed, their own bags slung over their backs, and hopped on the cycles our front.

"There's no room!" Kali yelled. Kadaj grabbed her and Sachiko and sat with them on his bike.

"You two are staying with me. Keep your heads down," Kadaj commanded as he hopped on behind them. He brought the motor to life and sped off as the others got on theirs.

After only five minutes, Tifa and Marlene were following quickly. Kadaj ducked as a bullet whizzed by his head. The others stayed behind him slightly to chase off Marlene and Tifa, but it was no use. They drove into the Midgar ruins, where the roads were narrow and only one cycle could fit down any one. As Kadaj came to the first of such streets, the others swerved down two side streets and tried to find a place to meet him. As he drove, Kali and Sachiko shaking with fright, he was constantly swerving, ducking, and making sharp turns to avoid the bullets.

Finally, he had an idea. Kadaj turned down a slightly wider street and waited until Tifa and Marlene were going top speed. When he was sure there was space between them for his bike to fit, he threw the bike into reverse and turned as he passed them. As they tried to turn to pursue him, they began to topple. While Tifa fell, Marlene did the same, but not before firing one last shot. They turned a corner as the bullet reached them. As they turned sharply, they could here the bullet hit the building. Sachiko screamed, but they didn't stop for quite some time.

When he finally did stop outside the town, Kadaj began laughing. Tifa and Marlene hadn't followed them. His friends came up to him and smiled too, but stopped when they saw Sachiko. Kadaj was the last to stop grinning. He leapt off the vehicle and pulled Sachiko off. She was crying, and it was easy to see why. The last bullet had bounced off of the wall and torn through her shoulder. Now she was bleeding all over the ground. Kadaj glanced at his own shoulder and found her blood splattered on it.

"Oh, my god. Sachiko I'm so sorry, I had no idea you were hit," he whispered sadly. He held her hand and gripped her shoulder, trying to stop the blood flow. She smiled.

"No worries," she replied, her eyes filling with tears. "You couldn't have known for the stress and panic."

"We need to get the bullet out before we can bandage it," Kadaj said to his friends. Yuffie nodded in agreement.

"Right. Who here can perform surgery?" she asked. Nobody replied. "Damn it."

"We can hurry to Kalm and find a doctor, maybe?" Reno suggested. Rude shook his head.

"It'll take too long. She's dying," he said solemnly. Kali closed her eyes at the feel of tears. She didn't want to cry, but her brother's own tears were too much for her. She glanced at the man and woman one more time before closing them again. This time, she closed them in concentration.

".ilaK ,tiod nacu oY"

"I don't know how," she whispered.

".nacu oy won kI .ilaK tioD"

"How? I've never done it before," she replied, her voice raised slightly in frustration.

"Done what?" Cid asked. They were all staring at her.

".en ift sujeb l'lu oyd na ,emot net sil ,ilaK"

"You took my body from me. How can I trust you?"

"?yp pah nueb ot ,reh torb ru oy ,jadaK t'na wu oyoD ?ei dot reht nawu oyoD ?ev ahu oy odec iohct ahW"

"Let me try," Kali said suddenly as Cid laid a hand on her shoulder. She reached into the first aid kit and sanitized her hands. She took a breath and reached towards the wound. "I can't."

".uoy nieve ilebI .woN .tioD"

Kali took a deep breath and wiped the blood away. The wound was unusually large for a bullet injury. It was perfect for what she was going to do. Trembling, Kali slowly enlarged the wound enough to reach her fingers in. She struggled to ignore the cries of pain coming from her patient. Kadaj stared at her and grabbed her hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" he snapped angrily. "You're going to kill her faster!"

"I know what I'm doing," she whispered. They glared at each other. "Do you want to give her even the slightest chance or not?"

Kadaj hesitated before letting her go and holding Sachiko instead. Kali turned back and slowly dug her hand into the wound. Sachiko was crying before, but now she was screaming. Kali winced at the sound, but dug deeper anyway. Kadaj and Sachiko were holding each other's hands so tightly, their knuckles were white and their fingers were turning purple. Kali's hand was in up to her knuckles when she brushed something small, metal, and round.

"!tu otie kat woN .tist ahT .seY"

Kali wrapped her fingers around the bullet and gently pulled it out. Sachiko screamed once more before falling unconscious.

"…en od lleW"

Kali finished removing the bullet as Kadaj checked her pulse and breathing. Kali stood and walked away. She shook as she stared at the object. Glancing back, she saw Kadaj carefully cleaning up the blood and talking quietly, even though Sachiko was unable to respond. She was somewhat surprised and amused at the sight of Reno turned away and throwing up. Yuffie was turned away and in tears, but she had better control of her stomach. Rude and Cid had the first aid kit open and were helping Kadaj bandage her shoulder. Kali looked back at the small marble in her bloody hand. She looked out at the ruins and sighed. With one last look at her hand, she closed her eyes and fainted.

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"I feel bad," Yuffie whispered.

"Why?" Kadaj asked.

"Today," she replied. "Everything has gone wrong."

"How so?" Rude muttered.

"It just feels like everything that could have gone wrong has."

"We're alive. Sachiko's going to live. At least that's gone right today," Kadaj reassured her.

Kali lie perfectly still. She refused to make any sign that she was awake. Kadaj had her hand clenched in his. Even though her eyes were shut, she somehow knew that his other hand held Sachiko's. Kali closed her eyes tighter. She was hoping that maybe if she lay there long enough, she would fall asleep but not wake up again. She listened as the others walked away. Unfortunately, Kadaj saw her eyelids twitch when she shut them and he squeezed her hand.

"You're awake."

"No I'm not," she muttered.

"Nice try," Kadaj chuckled and began to tickle her side. She pushed his hand away gently.

"Kadaj, please," she whispered. She opened her eyes slowly. Kadaj was surprised to see tears in them.

"Are you okay?" he asked, both his arms wrapping around her.

"No. I haven't been okay since Vincent brought me here. I don't even know how much I've had to tell people that."

"Kali, I'm here. I'll take care of you."

"I know. But you're not the one I want right now," she said quietly. Kali sat up and looked at her hand. The blood was mostly gone, but her hand still had a reddish tint. She curled it into a fist. "I want Devin."

"Who's he?"

"My very best friend from back home. No," she whispered. Kadaj could see a hatred and anger growing in her eyes. "I don't want him. I don't ever want to see him again."

"Kali," Kadaj said, "you're scaring your big brother."

"The day you found me on the tracks, Devin showed up just before you did. He knew I was hurt. He knew the train was coming. And he just walked away," she said through gritted teeth. She struggled to hold back tears. "He left me there to die. He was going to let himself get hit, but then he took off with some woman in white. I used to love him. Right now I hate that bastard."

"Don't talk like that," Kadaj said quietly. He hugged his sister and let her cry on his shoulder.

"Then I had a dream that he raped me. Afterwards, he murdered me."

"It's okay. Everything's fine now."

"No, it's not. I want to go home. I want to go and never come back to this place," she moaned. Kadaj, who had been patting and rubbing her back, froze. He pushed her away and stared at her.

"Kali, how can you say that? After everything we've done for you?" he whispered, looking around at their friends. "Do you know how tough it would have been if we weren't here for you? I guarantee you wouldn't have lasted five minutes here if not for them. If I hadn't wanted to know who you are, you would be a corpse on a train engine and length of tracks right now."

"Thanks, but it doesn't change anything," she muttered, bringing her knees to her chest. Kadaj held up his necklace.

"Do you really want to turn your back on father? This was his world. If it weren't for Cloud, he would be ruler. Do you really want to leave him? Do you really want to leave me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Look Kali," he whispered. "I'm nearly one hundred percent sure that my mother is dead. Father left me when I was ten. You know that. When he summoned Meteor, I had hoped that maybe when he ruled the world, he would take care of me again. Then Cloud killed him and shattered my hopes. I met Loz and Yazoo the same night. I lived and worked with them. I pretended I was a clone. When we finally brought father back, I was thrilled. I let Loz and Yazoo get killed for that. A few hours later, I watched our dad die again.

"Kali, I was forced to live in exile. I couldn't go into bars to find a girlfriend, I had to steal my food so I didn't starve. I couldn't even let anyone look at me. I was all alone after father died. You can't know how long I've wanted someone to love. No one's loved me since Cloud murdered dad. I'm your brother and I love you. I don't want to hurt you and I want you to be happy. But leaving is something I can't let you do. I've waited too long to have someone to care about. Please, don't turn your back on father and I."

"You don't need me anymore," Kali said angrily as she stood.

"What?" Kadaj gasped. Kali looked at the sleeping form of Sachiko next to him.

"You have her now. She can give you more than I can. She can give you sex and someday a child. I can only give you a friend. Why do you need me around?" Kali said bitterly. She turned and walked to her other friends sitting by a fire a few yards away. Kadaj was speechless. He swallowed painfully and let tears fall down his face before turning to the woman next to him.

"That was brave," Cid said to Kali as she sat. "You know, putting your hand into the wound like that."

"I was doing the right thing," she muttered. Kali picked up a piece of meat and chewed it slowly.

"It was disgusting," Reno said thickly as he ate his own food. Yuffie glanced at him and closed her eyes.

"I agree with Cid. It was very brave. You've got a good heart Kali. Unlike some people," she muttered under her breath. Reno heard her and threw the rest of his dinner into the fire.

"Yuffie, chill!" he snapped, standing angrily. "I'm sorry, okay? I cried when he died, didn't I?"

"Reno, you said that it makes you cry when I do. How do I know those tears weren't because of me?"

"What happened to the Yuffie that trusted me enough to let me stay in her house and rule her city when Godo dies? What happened to the Yuffie that worried about me? What about the girl who used to kiss me before going to sleep and after waking the past two weeks?"

"Tifa killed that girl this afternoon," Yuffie muttered angrily. Reno stared at her and curled his hands into fists. He swallowed with difficulty.

"I hate you Yuffie," he said quietly. Yuffie closed her eyes.

"Well you know what? I hate you, too."

Reno stared in shock at her for another moment. Kali could see the tears swelling in his eyes at those words. He finally turned and walked towards the ruins. Kali began to go after him to remind him of her promise, but stopped when he turned back.

"Don't worry Kali," he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "I haven't forgotten. I'm not going to leave you or go find Tifa. I just need to leave for a little while," he said quietly. He was gone a moment later.

"What have I done?" Yuffie muttered, her eyes closed tightly. Her tears slipped from between her lids. She dried her eyes, stood, and looked to the sky. "Whatever. He said it first. I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Good night," Kali said weakly. Yuffie laid in her sleeping bag, a place she hadn't slept in weeks. The rest of them sat in silence, too stunned to say anything.

"Love is fickle," Rude finally muttered. Cid and Kali looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Cid asked.

"Love can be confused with hatred. Grief clouds the caring for another. Reno and Yuffie are still grieving over Vincent. That's why they're fighting now. Hell, we're all still grieving. But sometimes when you love somebody deep enough, even without the sadness of other events, you seem to do nothing but cause them pain. Until you've known the person a long time or you've had many relationships, you don't truly know how to show your feelings. Then when you finally figure it out, your lover breaks up with you or cheats. Sometimes they die before you even get a chance to tell them what they truly mean to you. Some people go their entire lives not knowing how someone feels about them."

"You're right," Cid agreed. Kali only sat quietly. She glanced at Kadaj. Looking back into the fire for a moment, she stood. "Where are you going?"

"I have to talk to my brother," she said softly.

Kali approached Kadaj to find him curled up in his sleeping bag and shivering. Sachiko was wrapped up in some blankets next to him. Kali, too, shivered as the wind blew. She closed her eyes at the sight of tears trickling down his face. Kali placed a hand gently on his shoulder, but he continued to cry, shiver, and seemingly sleep.

"Kadaj, I'm sorry. Sachiko is a very kind, gentle, and loving woman. You're lucky. And I'm sorry I've been so moody and bitchy today. Kadaj, I love you. You're the only family I have, too. You mean so much to me. Thank you. Do you hear me? I love you, brother."

Kali waited a moment, but Kadaj remained in the same state except the tears. Instead of slowing as she expected, they increased. Kali began to cry, too. She silently opened the bag, laid down in it, and zipped it back up. Kali pulled Kadaj's arms around her and held his hands close to her chest and in her own. She snuggled up to his chest as tightly as she could. She slowly fell asleep. When she was under, Kadaj opened his eyes and pulled her closer to him. He whispered into her ear.

"I'm sorry too, and you have no reason to apologize. I love you," he muttered, his voice cracking. Kadaj slowly joined her in sleep, unaware that he was about to join her dreams as well.

NINJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNIN

NM: I lied. The update took less than a week. So sue me. Not that you'll get much money. Anywhosits, what a Kodak moment between Kadaj and Kali, eh? God, my writing has gotten loving and sickening… not at all like I intended for this fic… I have one disclaimer. I 'borrowed' the stick-the-hand-into-the-wound-and-take-out-the-bullet-thing from the movie The Matrix Reloaded. For those of you who haven't seen it, Neo (hero played by Keanu Reeves) does the same thing to another character kinda in the middle to the endish part of the movie. Something like that. After the kick-ass highway scene, that's all I know. Okay, what do ya'll wanna know?

Merielle: Sorry I didn't reply to you for chapter 16! You reviewed about an hour after I updated. So to make up for it, yes, I used a blind character. They're so cool, and the possibilities of their significance is endless. As you saw, she did indeed go insane. She'll have a few more such parts later. Now, for last chapter: Nanashi has indeed been revealed. And she will continue to both make Kali go insane and help her. And Kadaj, as you have seen, is definitely in love. And the story will continue to be depressing from now on, especially after a certain event in chapter 20 or after (not sure if I can push the event back farther than that).

Sayahiei: At least you could figure out the spoiler easily. And you can root for Nanashi. She, believe it or not, is a good guy. She just has some issues.

Mediciner: Well, you're right. Her parents are indeed Aeris and someone else (you'll find out her father later), and Aeris did do it before she died. I don't feel bad giving it away, since I think everyone's figured it out by now. Nanashi is basically Kali's subconscious. I guess that's the best way I can describe her right now. The 'true form' she talked about can be found in an earlier chapter. Cookie for you if you find it! You'll find out what she has to do with Kali near the end, maybe a little before. Or you can find out if you find her form. No, she's not turning into a crazed Sephy. But she'll be a shell/shadow of sorts by the time the story is over. Nanashi causes the spasms when Kali has moments of blinding fury. And you were bored? Not with the chapter,I hope? Just kidding.

NM: Thanks for keeping up with me! Next chapter shouldn't take too long. I hope…

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