Chapter 31
Trust Me
Kali slowly opened her eyes. She was still lying against Rude in the cave. Glancing up, Kali saw that he was asleep, but as thunder continued to faintly roll outside, she knew he wouldn't remain that way for long. She tried to get up, but the moment she started moving away, Rude's hand held her arm firmly and pulled her back.
"Where do you think you're going?" he muttered. She glanced up at him and saw that one eye was half open and staring at her.
"I'm getting up. My back hurts from leaning for so long," she groaned. She stood, stretched, and looked outside. "How long were we asleep?"
"Don't know," he replied. He pulled out his cell phone and looked at the clock. "It's after three in the morning. We were out for awhile."
"I'm never going to go to sleep tomorrow night," Kali muttered. She sat at the mouth of the cave and watched the rain pour over it in sheets. Rude watched her silently.
"What are you going to do?"
"Huh?"
"When you beat Zurine. What are you going to do?" he asked again. Kali bit her lip and looked at the ground. Rude approached and sat facing her.
"I haven't really thought about it. I guess…" she hesitated. "I guess I'll go back to Jahan. If I ever find a way back."
"You miss it, don't you?"
"Very much, yes," she whispered. She glanced up at him and was surprised at the look on his face. Disappointment was clearly written upon it. "What's wrong?"
"You know," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. He sighed heavily. "Damn, I'm bad at this sort of thing. Um..."
"What?" Kali inquired, giving him a sideways look. Rude avoided her gaze.
"You know, we'd all really like it if you stayed here," he finally whispered. He glanced at her and shrugged slightly. "You'd have more here than on Jahan."
"How do you mean?"
"On Jahan, do you have any really close friends?"
"Not really. Not since Devin raped me. My mother's dead. I really don't have anyone there anymore, come to think of it."
"Here you have Yuffie, Reno, Cid, Sachiko, Kadaj, and me," he reminded her. Kali closed her eyes and nodded.
"But… Sephiroth is my father. The people of this world are still afraid of his memory. How will I be able to live here?" she shook her head. Rude smiled at her in such a way that she had to suppress a shiver.
"I'd be more than happy to help you find a way."
Kali tore her gaze away from him and watched the rain again. She tried to ignore the fact that he was stealing glances at her every few moments. He finally got up and walked back into the cave. The girl sighed with guilty relief. She liked Rude and trusted him, but the way he was acting…
"How about you?" she called as he started to sit down. He turned to her. "When you go back to Wutai, what are you going to do?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess I'll just pray every night that you get through this and try to help in any way I can. Send you supplies and stuff, you know? I haven't thought about it much. I was so worried about getting away from the death."
"You know what?" she muttered. She stood and approached him.
"What?" he asked. Kali wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes.
"I really want you to stay with us," she said softly. "I'd really like it if you don't go back to Wutai, if you keep helping us."
"I wish I could."
"Why can't you?"
"I told you. I can't stand the death anymore," Rude sighed. He pulled her closer. "I especially can't stand to watch anything happen to you, Lifestream forbid."
"You once said you'd rather be with your loved ones when they die. Why not me?"
"You won't die," he said simply, "so that's not something I have to worry about. I just don't want to watch you get injured again."
"You're my friend. I don't want you to leave. Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"
"No," he shook his head and pushed her away, hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. There's nothing."
He walked away and stretched out on the ground. Kali lay down next to him and wrapped up tightly against his side, wondering how the others were doing.
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Kadaj stared out from the cave. It wasn't raining as heavily as it had when they swung into the crevice, nor was thunder rumbling or lightning flashing, but the rain was still pouring. He turned and stared at Alim. When they had come, he was slightly too high up on the rope and cracked his head on the top edge of the cave. Presently, he was propped up against the wall, a thick bandage wrapped around his head. He had been unconscious the entire time they were here. He only avoided falling to the ground because Shizuka had managed to grab him as he lost his grip on the rope.
"How is he?" Kadaj asked Yuffie as she unwrapped the bandage to change it. The blood had seeped through all of it. She looked up at Kadaj apologetically.
"I don't think he's going to make it," she said softly. "His skull is partially crushed and he's lost a lot of blood. I looked and I thought I could see his brain," she shuddered. "There's no way he can make it for much longer."
"He hurt us," Kadaj whispered, "but he's still family. I wish there was something we could do."
"There's nothing," Yuffie shook her head. She glanced at him. "How do you think Kali and Rude are doing?"
"I'm sure they're fine," he shrugged. He sighed as he sat and leaned against the wall and stared around. Cid and Reno were fast asleep. Shizuka was wrapped up in a corner, watching him and Yuffie. Pradipa was curled up in one of Kadaj's blankets. "Rude wouldn't let anything happen to her."
"None of us would," she replied as she wrapped a new bandage around Alim's head. She began sucking the blood from the old bandage. She looked up at a gasp from Shizuka. "Thaw?"
"Aer uyo a imprave?" she gasped shakily. Yuffie sighed and nodded slowly.
"Eys, I ma."
"Who olgn?" Shizuka muttered.
"A ewf nothm-s," she replied. Shizuka looked to the rain and said no more.
"I wish I could talk to her," Kadaj muttered. He closed his eyes. "Hell, I wish I could talk to Sachiko."
"Kadaj," Yuffie whispered gently. She laid a hand on his shoulder and sat next to him. "I'm sure she's fine."
"She probably thinks I'm dead," he muttered. "I never should have fucked her."
"Why do you say that?"
"Alim took my sword while we were sleeping. Maybe if we hadn't slept together that night, I could've kept them from taking us. Maybe then, the entire mess with Devin and losing Sachiko would never have happened."
"Don't blame yourself," she whispered gently. "You and Sachiko love each other. There's no shame in making love when you care that deeply for another."
"What about you and Vincent? Did you two ever…?"
"Yes. Every night after I met Kali," Yuffie whispered. She closed her eyes. "Except the last night before he… before he died. He insisted the he was feeling tired and worn out from age and couldn't."
"What about Reno?"
"No," Yuffie shook her head slowly, "not yet. I haven't felt ready for another man in my bed."
"At least nothing came from your sleeping with Vincent," Kadaj muttered. He shook. "The thing about Sachiko… I don't know anything that's happened to her. I don't know if I gave her some disease or hurt her in any way. I don't even know if she's pregnant or not."
"I know. I'm sure she's fine. Don't cry," Yuffie insisted. Tears had started to roll down Kadaj's cheeks and his shoulders were trembling.
"I'm just so worried about her. I'm worried about Kal, too," he said softly, his voice cracking. "I trust Rude, but after Devin…"
"But what?" she asked, giving him a sideways glance. "Kadaj, is Rude trying to get to Kali or something?"
"I don't really know. I know he likes her a lot, probably more than any one of us, but I'm not sure."
"You can trust him. I'm sure he would never do anything to her like what Devin did."
"I just want them back. Kali's my sister. If anything happened to her, I don't know what I'd do. Same with Sachiko. Yuffie?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I tell you something?" Kadaj asked, lowering his voice. "I haven't told anyone else, and I would appreciate it if you didn't either."
"No problem," Yuffie promised.
"Sachiko…" he swallowed and closed his eyes. "She's the first woman I've ever slept with."
"You're serious?" Yuffie gasped. Kadaj nodded.
"It's not that I didn't want to have sex with anyone, but… Living in exile, every woman was afraid of me. I couldn't go anywhere to find a woman that I really liked without running the risk of meeting Cloud or any of you."
"It's okay," she said gently. She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. About what happened back then, you know? At the time, Sephiroth was still lingering so horribly in our minds."
"I understand. No need to apologize," Kadaj muttered. He yawned. "I should get some sleep. Are you going to?"
"No. I'm going to watch Alim."
"I think you should get some rest," Kadaj insisted. Yuffie nodded as she unwillingly yawned.
"Maybe I will. Shizuka?" she called. The ninja looked up at her. "Liwl uyo kwea su pu ta uns-seri, seelpa?"
"Eys," Shizuka nodded. She stared up at the moon that managed to peek through a small break in the clouds.
"Does she sleep?" Kadaj asked as he laid in his sleeping bag and Yuffie curled up in Reno's.
"They don't have to. They're trained to stay awake for three days without sleep."
"Will Alim be okay without anyone watching him?" Kadaj muttered.
"I think so," Yuffie nodded. She curled up close to Reno and closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Kadaj."
"Goodnight, Yuffie," he called. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. The rain stopped right around sunrise. It was at that same moment that Alim unknowingly took his last breath.
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"What are you doing?" Kali smiled. Rude was sitting at the mouth of their cave, watching the rain stop.
"Watching the sunrise," he said quietly. She sat next to him and followed his gaze. She looked over at the sound of a lighter clicking and shook her head upon seeing a cigarette between his lips.
"Do you really think you should do that?"
"What?" Rude replied, blowing smoke from his mouth and pulling the cigarette away as he did.
"That. Smoking. I mean, you saw what almost happened to Cid. He's not much older than you are, from what I understand," she pointed out. Rude looked at her, then turned his gaze to the stick in his hand. He threw it aside.
"You're lucky I like you so much. If anyone else had said that, I would've punched them. Believe me, you don't want to get struck by me," he muttered. Rude leaned back and closed his eyes. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Just fine, yes. You?"
"Not as well as I will when I'm in Wutai, but still pretty well."
"You think we should start looking for the others?" Kali asked. Rude shrugged.
"If you want to."
"Well, of course I want to!" Kali exclaimed. She gave him a sideways look. Rude turned his gaze to her as she did.
"I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was we can wait until the ground has some time to dry or the sun comes up some more," he shrugged and stretched out again. "Your choice, but waiting for the ground to dry would be best."
"Why?" she asked. Rude sat up and pressed his hand to the ground outside. There was a sick gushing sound as his hand slid under the mud. He pulled it out when the mud covered halfway between his wrist and shoulder.
"That's how deep the mud gets around here after a storm," he explained, holding up his mud-covered arm for her to see. Kali stared in disgust as he wiped it off and flung mud to the side. "Of course, if you want to go out in it…"
"To be honest," she muttered, "it is kind of nice to sit here talking with you."
"You're the first person to ever say that," Rude chuckled.
"Hmm?"
"I've never been very talkative, so nobody's ever said it's nice to sit and talk with me."
"You are really quiet," Kali admitted. She smiled softly at him and whispered, "But when I can get you to talk, you sure do have a lot to say. And nothing you say is meaningless. You always have a meaning behind what you have to tell us. Not many people do that.
"Which brings me to my next question. You've been acting very odd lately."
"That's not a question, but okay," Rude smirked. Kali's own smile faded.
"Rude," she started, "back in the Gold Saucer, the morning after I was raped, you sat with me and watched out for me. Before we fell asleep, you said something about me being nicer than Tifa. Just last night, you kissed me before you slept."
"You heard and felt me do that?"
"Yeah. What was that for?" she asked. Rude slid his glasses on and stared towards the rising sun. Kali only sat and bored holes into him. "Rude? Did you hear me?"
"I heard you. And I'll tell you when we're in Wutai," he said. His voice was back to the way it had been when they first met, and he had stopped leaning; he was sitting straight again.
"Rude, what are you-"
"I said I'll tell you in Wutai," he repeated stiffly. Kali closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly. He obviously didn't want to pursue the topic any longer, so she kept silent. She didn't even know that she had been crying until Rude sat in front of her and wiped the tears from her cheeks a few minutes later. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"It's not you," she replied softly as she looked up at him. "It's everything on this planet."
Rude pulled her into a hug and leaned against the wall. Kali curled up in his lap, closed her eyes, and smiled as Rude gently rubbed her back. She never fell asleep, but she didn't open her eyes until the sun was high in the sky and a rumbling noise met her ears.
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"How long has he been dead?" Cid whispered. Yuffie took a few drops of blood and tasted them.
"Only a few minutes. I'd say he's been dead ever since the rain stopped," she explained. They all stared at Alim. "It's a shame."
"Yeah," Kadaj agreed. He picked up the rope that they had swung in on and used the hilt of his sword to jam it into a small fissure in the stone wall. "We can't stay up here forever though. We have to get Rude and Kali, go to Wutai and Rocket Town, and save Sachiko. As much as I want to bury him properly, I think we should leave Alim here."
"You're right. It's too difficult to carry him down anyway," Reno pointed out. Yuffie laid Alim on his back and crossed his arms over his chest. A few minutes later, they repelled down the cliff face and landed safely on the ground. "Well, we're closer to Rocket Town now. Shall we go there first?"
"After we find Rude and Kal, yes," Kadaj nodded. They started walking through the canyon, but were only a few yards from their starting point when a shadow overtook the sun.
"What's that?" Yuffie pointed. Above them was a huge dragon. It was pure white and had a very slim, snake-like body. This dragon was so large, they were unable to see the sun behind it.
"I thought all the large dragons died out ages ago," Kadaj muttered. He slowly began walking backwards. "I think we should go."
"I think so, too," Reno nodded. Unfortunately, he moved far faster than Kadaj did. The dragon snapped its white eyes at them, roared, and began flying down to them.
"Run!" Cid yelled. They tore across the muddy ground, but the dragon came upon them quickly. They were just reaching their friends cave when the dragon began causing an avalanche from the wall next to them.
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"Hmm…" Kali flinched as the rumbling came closer. She looked up to see Rude holding her so tightly, his muscles threatened to tear through the arms of his shirt. He quietly stood, picking her up off of the ground in the process, and backed slowly to the back of the cave again. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know. Something's causing an avalanche, but I can't tell what."
"Rude, I'm scared," she muttered as the ground began shaking. He had been holding her with one hand under her knees and the other under her back, but now he turned her to face him and held her to his chest.
"I know. I won't let anything happen to you, got it?" Rude replied. Kali nodded, but she began crying nonetheless. As she clutched her friend, he pulled out his pistol. Kadaj and the others ran past their cave. "Reno?"
"Hey, they're in here!" Reno yelled. Rude and Kali ran out to meet them. "We have to go! There's a dragon!"
"What?" Rude gasped. He looked up and saw the beast flying at them. He grabbed Kali's wrist and tore after the group. "Come on!"
"Rude, I can't keep up!" she yelled as they ran along the wall. Rocks fell behind them one right after the other as the dragon tore them down. Shizuka ran to the river and pointed at it.
"Ni erhe!" she yelled. They all leapt in, but as Rude came up, Kali's grip loosened and she tripped in the mud.
"Kali!" he snapped as he prepared to jump in the water. The girl stood, but the mud was too deep. One of her boots was stuck. She gaped at her friends as she struggled to get it out.
"HELP!" she screeched. The rock was tumbling closer. The dragon flew overhead and threw a particularly large one at the girl. She was only able to stare up at it helplessly while tugging on her boot. "Help…"
As the rock was only a few yards over her head, Rude ran up behind her, grabbed her around the middle, and pulled her free. The way he grabbed her and kept going, Kali remembered how Kadaj had rescued her from the train. Rude held her tightly, pulled her foot free with a schlup sound, and ran with her. He tripped on her coat, and they both fell into the mud. They rolled a few yards and held each other. The dragon flew away as Kadaj, Reno, Yuffie, Cid, Shizuka, and Pradipa ducked under the water. They rose from the waves and ran up to find both Rude and Kali caked in mud. For a moment, they couldn't even see Kali; Rude had landed on top of her when they stopped rolling.
"Kali?" he hissed. He propped himself up and watched her open her eyes while the others approached. She stared back. They sat like that for a long time.
"I'm fine," she finally whispered. Rude nodded, then turned bright red as he noticed how he had landed. His redness worsened when he realized that his hand had been against her breast the entire time.
"You two okay?" Cid called as he helped them up. They both nodded slowly.
"We need to get washed up," Rude said quietly as he stood. Reno started laughing when he saw his face.
"So Rude really can blush!" he smiled. "Thirty years of friendship, and you finally blush!"
Rude stood and wiped as much mud from his body as he could. As he walked past Reno to go to the river and wash, he reached up and pulled Reno's ponytail. The redhead released a pain filled, girlish shriek as Rude pulled him into a backbend.
"And you still scream like a pansy," he retorted. As he walked away and Reno rubbed where the hairs had pulled the worst, Rude couldn't help but smile at the sound of Kali's giggling.
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"Guys over here. Kali, Yuffie, and Shizuka go over there," Kadaj ordered as they reached the small pool. The lagoon was the source of the river, and entirely surrounded by rock walls. Kadaj led them up a small path into it. "When we're all clean, we'll head to Rocket Town."
"Okay," they all agreed. The girls walked towards the right and the guys turned to their lefts. The guys all dove in immediately except for Rude, who tried to get as much mud off of him before trying to wash it off.
"Come on," Reno griped. "Just strip down and get in! Jeez."
"Well, if the water sinks into it, it could become even worse," Rude pointed out calmly. He finally decided that he had enough off and joined the rest of them. He started shivering. "You could've told me it was cold."
"You didn't ask," Kadaj pointed out as he shook water from his hair. He sighed. "I can't wait until all of this is over."
"But you remember what Sephiroth, Vincent, and Aeris said," Cid reminded him. Kadaj gave him a sideways look. "They said that Kali died every time she beat Zurine, that they ended up killing each other."
"I know. But I believe in her. Something tells me that this time will be different," Kadaj nodded. "I just want it all to end."
"Other than the fact that we've come close to death more times than I can count," Reno smiled, "I'm rather enjoying myself."
"What do you mean," Rude paused to duck his head under water for a second, "'close to death?' You did die for awhile."
"Don't remind me," Reno muttered.
"Why do you want it to end?" Cid turned to Kadaj.
"Well, there's the fact that we're risking our necks every other second. If we save the world, we'll be heroes, right? I won't have to run anymore. I'll be able to live safely in a nice house instead of a rundown temporary shack. I can finally get a decent meal and a hot shower," he added as he glanced at the pool they were in. He smiled to himself. "Maybe I'll even share it with Sachiko. Yeah. That's what I'm looking forward to when this ends. How about you guys?"
"Once I find Shera, I don't really care what happens to me," Cid said softly. "I guess I'll just go back to the way we were before she disappeared. We were pretty happy back then. Except less drinking and cigarettes," he added, rubbing his chest.
"How about you, Reno? You going to marry Yuffie?" Kadaj asked.
"I don't think so. She still holds too much love for Vincent. Besides, I would die long before her. I don't want her or any possible children to go through that pain."
"Why don't you let her bite you?" Rude asked. Reno gave him a sideways look.
"You're my best friend, you should know better than anyone else here," he muttered. "I'm not a virgin. If she bit me, I would die, then become a ghoul. If she bit me, you'd have to cut off my head right after."
"Rude?" Kadaj turned to him.
"He doesn't count," Cid smirked. "He's going home in a few days. He can do whatever he wants sooner than the rest of us."
"Hey, lay off," Kadaj hissed. He turned back to Rude, but he had a look on his face that almost looked like… anger? Sadness? "You okay?"
"Fine. Just fine," he replied. He scrubbed the remainder of the mud from his arms and climbed out. "I'll meet you by the river."
"Rude?" Kadaj called as he dressed. Rude never replied, but only pulled his clothes on and walked down the path.
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"Pradipa, do you want to bathe?" Kali called as she slid her shirt over her head. He sat on a small rock on the shore and shook his head.
"I'm fine," he whispered. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, resulting in a sigh from Kali. Yuffie's head poked out of the water.
"Come on in. It's cold, but you'll feel better after a moment or two."
"Coming," Kali nodded, pulling off her pants and undergarments. She slid under the water and rubbed her arms. "It really is cold."
Kali slid underwater and scrubbed her head. Yuffie and Shizuka did the same a few yards away. As Kali came up, she looked over and noticed a small cave near the shore.
"What's that?" Kali asked Yuffie. The ninja followed her gaze and her face fell.
"That's Lucrecia's cave. Your grandmother's soul rests in there. Vincent came here every chance he got. Perhaps when we have more time, I'll bring you here and you can meet her."
"What do you mean?"
"Lucrecia died shortly after she gave birth to your father. But… when Hojo replaced her genes with Jenova's while your father was still in her womb, the cells injected themselves into her. Because of that, she couldn't really die. Her soul is trapped in there. Hojo laid her body in there and hooked it to a machine. If it gets turned off, she'll die for good."
"But when I watched him go to the Lifestream…" Kali trailed off. "Lucrecia was there."
"She was?" the woman muttered. "Perhaps one of her souls went to the Lifestream and the other stayed here."
"Maybe," Kali nodded. She turned on her back and floated for a second before Kadaj yelled at her across the pond.
"Hey! No backstrokes! We don't need to see your breasts!" he yelled. Naturally, Cid and Reno turned to see who he was yelling at.
"Fine!" Kali yelled back. She rolled her eyes and turned to Yuffie. "We just had to team up with four guys, huh?"
"But they do make life more fun," Yuffie smiled. Half an hour later, the small group dried off, dressed, and started the hike to Rocket Town.
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NM: Not much to say here. Except I killed Alim… he really didn't have any other job for the rest of the fic, and I kinda forgot he was there a few times ((sweat drop)). I know it's a corny way for him to die, but I don't care. Oh, and the review pics should be up shortly. I finally scanned them, and 1 is completely finished. I'm also going to post 2 pics of Nanashi, and 1 of Sachiko and Kadaj after the ending of the story. There's another one I might post, but it's a spoiler pic, so I dunno if I will or not… Oh, and if anybody knows of a good website to post music videos on, please tell me! I have 1 complete FF7AC, 1 that's about halfway done, and 1 that's still going through the planning process. I really wanna post em, so please tell me if you know of any besides 'gametrailers' and 'Chocobos' for I already know of them. Reviews:
Mediciner: ((glompage)) You're the only one that reviewed! And yes, Pradipa will get better, and it hopefully will be in the next few chapters.
NM: PLEASE review!
REVIEW!
Signed,
Master of the Physical and Mystical,
NINJA MAGE
