The Only One in My Heart

Chapter 8

"Lana!" Kadaj called as he turned back to look at Lana, who stared at the sky above them. "Lana, come on! The train's leaving!" Kadaj pulled her along with him to the station. Lana followed but her eyes did not leave the clear blue sky. When they reached the station, the train had yet to arrive and both of them stood by the platform. Suddenly, Lana's eyes looked worried and she gasped.

"It's coming!" she said to Kadaj.

"What?" he asked.

"Meteor," Lana said, her hands trembled and she felt her knees were going to give away. Kadaj looked at the blue sky for a long time before he saw a fiery ball falling from the sky.

"Come on!" Kadaj pulled Lana's hand and headed to the exit of the station. "We'll figure out a way to get to the Northern Crater after we get out of here!" he said as they ran towards the exit of the city. Lana smiled at him and ran beside him.

'What is this feeling?' Lana asked herself as she felt a someone or something was trying to tell her something, 'A call.' Time seemed to have slowed as Lana turned to look behind her. The impact from the Meteor had caused a big chunk of concrete to disintegrate from a nearby building and it flew towards them. Lana turned back at Kadaj who did not know about the concrete and she panicked.

"Kadaj!" Lana screamed as she threw herself at him, pushing him away from the concrete's path towards the wall of a building. Kadaj's head could have knocked on the building's concrete wall if it was not for Lana, who had covered his head with her hands. They stood there, as if time had stopped. Lana's hands suddenly slipped and hung loose on her sides.

"Lana!" he exclaimed when he saw the blood on her hands. But she did not reply. She still stood leaning on him. "Lana!" he called again and put his arms around her waist to help her stand on her feet. Lana winced in pain. "Lana!" Kadaj called as he held up his bloodstained hand. His eyes widened in horror and he looked at the chunk of concrete that lay a few meters away from him. Long and thick metals were seen protruding out of it. Blood dripped from one end of the metals.

"LANA!" Kadaj screamed as he held the girl that he had loved ever since he first saw her. "Lana, hang in there," he told her as he carried her towards the exit of the city and towards safety.

"Kadaj," Lana whispered as she looked up at Kadaj, "I'm sorry."

"What's to sorry about?" Kadaj forced a laugh, "You'll be okay. I promised that I won't let you die, remember?" Lana smiled.

"Thank you," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Kadaj laughed, "You are so funny, you know? You were saying sorry one moment and then thank you another moment." He stopped at the main entrance of the city. He saw the LifeStream, twirling in the sky above him in a faint green glow to the Meteor. A soft voice called him.

"Kadaj," Lana called, "Everything's all right. The Meteor will be stopped."

"Shh," Kadaj hushed her, "Save your strength. I'll get you to the doctors. You'll be alright." Kadaj resumed his walk.

"I'm sor-," Lana repeated.

"Don't say it!" Kadaj said, pain was clearly in his voice, "Don't say it, Lana."

Lana looked up at him to see Kadaj's eyes glistened. "Kadaj," she whispered.

"Don't you dare leave me, Lana," Kadaj stopped in his walk and stared into her brown eyes. "Don't leave me," he repeated.

"I'm sor-," Lana began but was interrupted by Kadaj.

"I said don't say that!" A tear slipped down his cheek. "I'll save you, remember?"

Lana smiled at him, "Thank you." Kadaj resumed his walk.

"Hey, Kadaj," Lana said softly after a while, "Will we ever go home?"

"Home?" Kadaj asked as he walked.

"I want to watch the sea again," Lana said.

"I'll bring you there once you get well, alright?" Kadaj said but Lana did not answer him. "Lana?" he called as he stared at Lana, "Open your eyes. We're almost there." Still, Lana did not stir. "No," he stopped in his walk, "NO!"

"NO!" Kadaj screamed as he woke up from his memory. He looked around him and sighed with his head on his hands. "It was always that memory. Always that moment. But you were only tired then, you did not leave. You're still here," he said as he touched the glass, "Reunion, you feel it too, don't you?"

"He's alright, right?" Loz asked his brother, who nodded without looking at him. "Really, I haven't seen him cry in ages. That day in Midgar, it was the first time he had cried since he was four," Loz mumbled. Yazoo nodded.

"Lana mean a lot to him, Loz," Yazoo said, "And to us too."

"Yeah, she's always the one to cheer us up when we're down," Loz agreed.

Kadaj came out of the lab and looked at his brothers. "It's time to go," was all that he said as he passed them by. The other two brothers nodded and followed him.

"Round them up," Kadaj said, "I going to meet the president." Yazoo and Loz nodded as they reached the ruined Midgar.

"The day you found us," Kadaj began as he entered the room. A white caped man sat on a wheel chair looked at Kadaj, who proceeded to kneel in front of him and reached for his right hand that was left on the handle. "I have worshipped you as I have worshipped Big Brother," he continued. He looked up to the caped man, "We have sworn to lend you our strength if you keep her alive."

The caped man was silent. "That is what I'm doing now. That is what we are doing now, Mr. President," Kadaj said as he rose to his feet with a smile.

"You know there isn't a Promised Land," the caped man said, "It's all a bunch of lies!" Kadaj laughed wickedly at his comment. "Avalanche will stop you," he continued.

"Cloud?" Kadaj sneered, "Him? What can he do?" The caped man was silent. "I haven't told, have I? I almost killed him!" he laughed hysterically, "I could have killed him that day! He's such a weakling!"

"They were able kill Sephiroth two years ago and also managed to save our world," the caped man said.

"And?" Kadaj dared. "He can't stop us now; we're just too strong for him and for them too." The caped man stared at with unseen eyes. "You don't believe me do you?" Kadaj questioned. He laughed as he pushed the caped man's wheelchair out of the room.

He didn't utter a word as Kadaj brought him to a dusty room with a wall torn down. Kadaj left him in the middle of the room and walked near the edge of the floor where the wall was supposed to be. He looked down from the place he stood and saw children marching in rows out of the city while the adults scurried into shadows. "Look down there," he pointed at the city below him. The caped man obeyed his words.

"The city is dark," Kadaj said looking down at the city, wind blew past him, "Everyone could feel the fear that creeps at the very corner of their hearts." Kadaj turned back to the caped man. "Now I'll make their fears come true!" Kadaj said as he raised his left hand. Green light began to emerge on his arm and Kadaj had a satisfied grin on his face as he watched the power surged within him.

"You have her power," the caped man said as he watched in horror. Kadaj's grin widened as he turned back to the city and released the power towards the sky. Then, everything was silent. There was not a sound in the air or from the city. It was totally silent.

The caped man remembered Kadaj's visit one evening. The sun cast the horizontal shadows of the window blinds in his room on both of them.

"We'll find Mother," he remembered Kadaj said as he stood in front of him.

"JENOVA is dead," he said.

"Geostigma," Kadaj began as he walked around the caped man, "It happens only to those who are fighting so hard against Mother, like the LifeStream. This is all Mother's doing. She's still alive."

"Even if she's alive, you won't be able to find her," he said.

Kadaj stood in front of the caped man now, with his back to him. "We need Mother's powers," he said in a serious tone before he turned to face him, his green orbs full of determination, "We need it for the Reunion, no matter what."

"This is the power Mother bestowed upon me," the caped man heard Kadaj said. He looked into the dark clouds and felt that something evil was about to emerge from the clouds beyond. His instincts did not let him down as he soon saw a winged beast flew out of the clouds towards the city and its people. Kadaj turned back to the former president of the ShinRa Company, "This…is our power."

More and more of those winged beasts flew down from the sky and attacked the citizens. The caped man watched in horror as screams echoed throughout the city. Kadaj had a wicked grin pasted on his face as the watched the people ran for shelter only to be snatched from the shelter by the beasts.

"You are insane," the caped man said to Kadaj. Kadaj merely laughed at him and continued to stare into the sky, as if he were expecting something. Something like the winged beasts but it was something more powerful.

Then, a roar was heard high up in the sky. Kadaj's grin grew broader as he saw the clouds began to give way to something that was descending down from the sky. Another roar was heard and this time it was answered by the beasts that were already in the city.

"Bahamut Sin," Kadaj said, "That is its name." A creature far bigger than the ones in the city appeared as a blast of energy made the clouds parted for its entrance. More screams echoed throughout the city and Kadaj said, "I have matters to attend to. Excuse me."

"Loz, get the girl!" Kadaj said when he met Yazoo and Loz in the city, "Meet us in the forest." Loz nodded at his leader and brother before he sped off to an abandoned church.