I was dreaming, I already knew that. I was sitting at the table of a strangely familiar kitchen. Sunlight was spilling into the kitchen via open windows and the glass door leading into the backyard.

Andrew! Did you forget already?

Forget what…? I wondered as I sat there. I knew someone was behind me, but I was frozen in place. Turning around to discover the identity of the person was impossible.

You always forget, Andrew. Hahaha, you and your short-term memory.

Andrew…? Is that my name…?

You should try to remember. Then you won't feel so bad.

Remember what?

Oh Andrew, if only we all had a little more time… I'm so sorry for this…

Sorry for what…? I asked silently. My dreams rarely made sense, but this one was taking the cake. Yet, the voice sounded oddly familiar, like a grade school friend you talk to for the first time in years.

Just remember, that you are loved… All of you are loved…

I woke up from the dream in a haze, my eyes adjusting slowly to the overhead light. Andrew? My name was Andrew? I sat up and massaged my temple, trying to think. Who was that voice? Why did it sound so familiar? Maybe it was a memory? Maybe that meant my memory was coming back?

I sighed and let myself fall back to the bed. What am I doing, I wondered as I stared at the ceiling. What should I do? That was a better question. I didn't know if I wanted to get involved in this whole rebel thing, but they offered things I didn't have. Things I needed to survive while I tried to sort things out for myself. All they want me to do is enlist and get them information, I thought. Maybe once I do that, I can leave. I wasn't afraid, even though I knew that going up against the kind of power Aya described was a death sentence. Its just that all of this sounded like something I shouldn't be involved in. Everyone in Advent was fighting for a cause except me.

I shook my head. Whatever. I'll worry about that when it arrived, but right now I had to get my clothes. I got up, and went into the hall. It was empty, so I thought walking naked wouldn't be disastrous. Then the door to the laundry room opened and a brunette, teen girl walked our carrying a pile of clothes. Her brown eyes widened in shock, then she blushed, then yelled out, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She ran off, dropping articles of clothing in her escape.

I shrugged to myself and walked into the laundry room, stopping for a moment to gather a white t-shirt, a pair of underpants, and socks. They were clean, so it didn't really matter whose they were, right? There on a table, were my clothes, folded neatly. I guess the girl did it. I'd have to thank her.

I put on all the clothes and went back into my room. Aya had said their was a bathroom in there, and there was. I guess I just didn't notice it when I walked in last night. The door was opposite of my bed. I walked in and bent over the sink, rinsing my face off with cold water. When I rose up, I saw the mirror. And I saw a complete stranger.

Shoulder-length, wild white hair. Crimson-red eyes. I stared at myself touching my face and hair. This is what I looked like? I blinked and squinted at the mirror, the stranger doing the same.

A knock on the door interrupted my inspection and I went to open it, finding Aya there waiting with an amused frown on her face.

"Were you walking around naked before?" she asked, folding her arms and smiling slightly.

"Maybe," I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because Clara came and told me," she explained. She sighed, shaking her head. "You know, you can't just walk around in the nude anymore."

"Relax, I was just getting my clothes from the laundry room," I said, raking a hand through my hair. "Don't worry, it won't happen again."

She smiled. "Good. If you want, Clara made breakfast for everyone."

"I do," I nodded, turning out the light and shutting the door behind me. "By the way, who's Clara again?"

As we walked, Aya explained, "Angela found Clara asleep in the streets when she was ten. She brought her here and she's never left. She does whatever she can around here to show her gratitude, although I think she's paid in full and over."

There were a few moments of comfortable silence as we walked and I suddenly remembered my dream. "Hey, I remembered something."

Her face brightened. "Really! What'd you remember?"

"My name..." I paused for dramatic effect. "...is Andrew."

"Andrew," she repeated before giving a shrug. "A pretty dull name if you ask me."

I blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, 'dull'? This has nothing to do with just my name. This is the beginning of remembering who I am. This has meaning behind it. And Andrew is not a dull name, either."

"Well at least now we know what to call you," she said, opening the door to the dining room. The first thing I saw was a pile of bacon. My mouth watered.

"Come on and have a seat you two," the Boss waved us over. She was sitting at the head of the table, her plate already stacked with food. Sitting next to her was a kid that was the splitting image of her with his blonde hair and eyes. Must be her son. There was an empty chair next to him so I sat down. Sitting to my left was, amusingly, Clara. She blushed when I apologized for earlier, mumbling, "It's alright…"

Sitting directly opposite of me was Aya, who began piling her plate with bacon and eggs. Vulcan was sitting to her left, and already had his plate filled with both, plus a stack of pancakes. Every now and then, he'd throw a glare in my direction. Sitting on Aya's right was a guy I hadn't met before. His skin was dark brown, and his long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Well, no use letting it get cold," Vulcan declared, forking a pile of eggs with gusto. "Let's dig in!"

"Mommy, we didn't say grace yet!" the kid cried, tugging the Boss' sleeve.

"Yeah, I know baby," she soothed, Throwing a pointed glance toward Vulcan. "Why don't you do the honors?"

Vulcan grinned awkwardly and clasped his big hands together, bowing his head. Everyone did the same, closing their eyes solemnly. Except for me, that is.

"Oh Lord, we thank you for this bounty we're receiving," Vulcan prayed as I snatched a piece of bacon from the pile and popped it into my mouth. I chewed slowly and quietly as he finished, "In your name, we pray. Amen."

"Amen," everyone concluded, raising their heads.

"Now we can eat," the kid declared, digging in. The Boss smiled briefly at him before beginning to eat. As we all ate, everyone began to talk casually.

"Vulcan, anything new on patrol last night?" the Boss asked, her mouth fool of egg.

He took a swig of juice before throwing a contemptuous look in my direction. "I didn't pick up any strays, if that's what you mean."

I guess he was still not quite fond of me. "How clever," I retorted. "Did it take all night to think of that one or did you just ask the kid for a freebie?" I gestured toward the little blonde.

"How are you guys enemies when you don't even know each other?" Aya asked in wonder, staring at both of us.

"I guess I'm just opposed to idiots," I shrugged, gulping down juice.

"And I'm opposed to weaklings," he snapped.

"Stop," she commanded. "Both of you are acting like children."

"She's right," the Boss agreed. "How's work coming along Armour?" she changed the subject, looking at the man with the ponytail. He stopped, his fork hovering in midair and his mouth wide open.

"Huh?" was his reply, obviously oblivious to the last few minutes of conversation.

The Boss rolled her eyes, seemingly already used to this. "I said, how's work coming along?" I crammed food into my mouth as I watched the exchange.

The man called Armour shoved the forkful of pancakes into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, syrup dripping down his chin. Finally, he swallowed and replied, "Fine."

The Boss rolled her eyes again, and this time they settled on me. Apparently, she was hell bent on having a morning conversation with someone.

"I heard you like walking around naked," she said, with no tact whatsoever.

Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I replied, "Word gets around quickly, doesn't it?"

"Well, in case you didn't notice, there's only seven of us," Vulcan interrupted. "You walking around naked like some kind of pervert wouldn't be a secret for too long."

Before I could reply, Clara's said in a soft voice, "He didn't mean it…"

I glanced at her gratefully before turning to Vulcan. "Yeah, you heard her," I said. "Now be a good boy, unless you want another beating."

"I'll take you on any day of the week," he scowled. "You just name the time and place."

Ignoring the exasperated looks on Aya and the Boss' face, and the confused one on Armour's, I replied, "Well, seeing as I don't know my way around here, why don't you do the honors?"

"Do you two really have to do this?" Aya asked, her face a mixture of disapproval and exasperation. "Can't you do something else to prove your manhood?"

"This isn't about manhood," Vulcan growled, eyeing me. "It's about putting him in his place."

"If you want to put me in my place," I smirked, folding my arms. "How about right now? I'm done eating."

He stared at me for a moment, uncertainty written all over him before he said, "How about tomorrow? At three o'clock. Same place as last time."

"Fine with me," I said. I felt a tug on my jacket and looked down to see the little blonde kid there. "What?" I asked.

"You're gonna fight Vulcan?" he asked, eyes wide, his voice incredulous. Vulcan smirked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding and scraping the last bit of pancake and egg from my plate.

"But he's bigger than you," he said, as if I hadn't noticed that fact before.

I shrugged. "So?" He stared at me thoughtfully for a moment with those wide, amber eyes before turning back to his food.

"Eat your eggs, Michael," the Boss said, ruffling his already wild hair. He smiled toothily at her before forking his eggs. Cute kid, I had to admit.

"Hey thanks for breakfast, Clara," Armour said, standing up. He wiped his chin with a napkin and stretched. "Back to work." He began to leave, but turned back as if he had forgot something. He reached a hand out to me. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Armour."

I grabbed his hand and shook it, saying, "Nice meeting you. I'm Andrew." He nodded and walked out.

"Andrew?" the Boss repeated, looking at me in confusion. "I thought you didn't remember your name?"

"I didn't until last night," I said, pushing my plate away. "I had this weird dream where someone was calling me Andrew, and I remembered it as my name."

"Too bad no one cares," Vulcan declared, standing up. "I'll be in the exercise room." I wastched as he shuffled out. Don't you worry buddy. You'll get yours soon.

"Well, what are you two going to do?" the Boss asked, leaning back into her chair.

"I was going to go into town and make a few rounds," Aya said. She looked at me. "You should come along if you want to know the layout of the city."

I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I turned to the Boss, gesturing toward the kid. "Is this your son?"

She smiled and ruffled his hair again, much to his dismay. "Yeah, he's mine. Been here since the beginning."

I nodded and stood up, glancing at Aya. "When will you be ready?" I asked her.

"Right now," she said, also standing. "Let's go."

"Be careful," the Boss said, waving a hand while using the other to try and wipe her son's face.

"What are you supposed to be looking for you when you patrol?" I asked as we flew down the street. It was drizzling lightly, and each tiny droplet shimmered as the glow of the streetlights caught them.

"Just anything that's wrong," Aya answered, stopping at a light. "You know, four guys beating up someone, a lady getting robbed, a monster. That sort of thing."

"Oh, the everyday kind of thing," I smiled, staring out the window.

"You may be joking, but a monster in the streets isn't an unusual occurrence," she said. "Most people just stay locked up in their houses, only coming out to get food and the essentials. No one wants to be assaulted by both criminals and monsters."

My smile disappeared as I thought of her words. "No one should have to live their lives this way," I said softly. "It's not right."

"That's why we're going to fight," Aya whispered strongly. "No matter what the outcome."

I looked away from the window, into her face. And she was afraid. Afraid of what was to come. But she still went on.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "What makes you keep going with the possibility of death so certain?"

She sighed, tears beginning to slide silently down her cheeks. She pulled over and put her head on the steering wheel. "I have to do this for him…"

"Who?" I asked gently.

"My little brother," she choked, the tears coming faster. "He was taken byShin-Ra five years ago, when I was sixteen. They performed their…experiments on him and then gave him back to me when they were finished. He was in a lot of pain, more pain than he ever deserved. Finally…one day, I found him dead, an empty bottle of pills next to him. He had killed himself." She looked at me painfully. "He was only ten."

She sniffled and wiped her tears away, sitting up. "That's why I won't give up, ever. They'll pay. They'll pay for what they did to him, even if it costs me my life."

I sighed inwardly. So she didn't have a cause after all. Just an anger-fueled sense of vengeance for the loss of her brother. Now I knew she would die, without a doubt. Her anger and desire for revenge would be her death. But she still deserved a kind word or two.

"I'm not going to pretend I understand why you want to throw your life away when your brother would probably want you to live it to its fullest." She glanced at me before looking forward again, so I continued, "But you have my help whenever you need it."

Damn. I cursed myself inwardly. Why had I said that? That was way more than a kind word or two. I said I didn't want to get involved in this whole mess and now I had just pretty much jumped right in. Well, I thought as she smiled at me, at least it had made her a little less sad.

"Thank you, Andrew," she said softly. "You barely know me, and yet you want to help. You're really a good person."

Or an incredibly stupid one. I nodded and went back to looking out the window. The drizzle was getting heavier, threatening to become downright rain.

Suddenly, a man appeared in the street, running. His face looked like he had gotten the fear of God struck in him, and he was running as fast as his fat little legs could carry him.

"What's wrong with him?" Aya murmured before getting out the car. I sighed, guessing that this was one of Advent's duties to the public. The rain was pouring by now, so I put on my hood and got out as well.

The man was yelling at Aya frantically as I walked toward them, and he kept looking back behind him. As if someone were chasing him.

"So, what's up?" I asked when I reached them.

"He said something about a monster," Aya said uncertainly. "I couldn't really understand him though. He's pretty incoherent."

"Seems like he's scared shitless to me," I suggested, glancing at him. "You sure he isn't just hallucinating or something?"

A screech erupted from the dark, echoing throughout the cold night. Guess that answered my question. The man's eyes widened in fright and he ran, disappearing into the shadows. I turned to Aya.

"Any idea what that might be?" I asked, a hand on the hilt of my sword.

"I…I don't know," she said, shaking her head. She removed the gun from her back and held it ready as another shriek came from the darkness. We waited, glancing at each other when we heard the footsteps. They were loud, first off, and sounded like they belonged to something that could probably crush us.

"Maybe we should call for backup…" Aya trailed off as the creature emerged from the shadows. It was huge, just as I thought, and reminded me of some kind ofzombie creature from a movie. It looked like a big wingless lizard, except its flesh was all rotted and raw and bloody.

"Um...why don't you call for backup?" I suggested, unsheathing the sword. "I'll distract it for as long as I can."

She looked from me to the creature fearfully. "…Are you sure…?"

"Of course not," I said, never taking my eyes off the beast. "But now's not the time to be sure. Just do it." She did, running back to the truck.

The creature and I stared at each other as the rain hammered relentlessly on us. Each of us were waiting for the other to make a move. It licked its lips with a reptilian tongue and bared its sharp teeth. I crouched into a stance, momentarily troubled, remembering that I didn't know the first thing about swordplay.

As if reading my mind and realizing it had an advantage, the creature bounded toward me with a ear-piercing shriek. I rolled to the side, barely missing being snapped up in its jaws. I jumped toward it, sword raised, but it sent me flying with one flick of its muscular tail. I slid backwards on the wet concrete of the street and stopped, stars dancing around my head. Dimly, I heard the running footsteps of the beast and I looked up just in time to see it jumping toward me. Without thinking, I rolled to my side again and jumped up as it landed where I once was, slicing one of its eyes. It screeched in pain as blood sprayed from its eye. It turned its head, glaring at me with its one good eye and before I could react, sent a claw toward me. With one swipe, it knocked me far backwards into a parked car. The sword fell from my fingers and I realized faintly that my face and chest were bleeding freely. I heard the thing scream again, and lumber toward me. I looked on the ground for my sword, but couldn't find it. I wiped the blood from my eyes and saw that it was running right toward me, a look of feral glee in its eye.

Without warning, it pitched to the side, sliding on the slick concrete. I looked toward the car to see Aya standing there with her gun. She fired again and again, getting to one knee to aim better. The beast stood up, shaking its head fiercely. Then it began to run toward Aya, that same look in its eye. She was shooting frantically, but the beast was shaking them off as if they were bug-bites. I guess the first one just took it by surprise.

It was going to kill her unless I did something. I stood up shakily, looking around for my sword. It had been right beside me the whole time, and I picked it up. I ran toward the beast, my vision swimming before me. I could barely stand but here I was running in the rain to save a girl I barely knew. Life was funny sometimes.

"Andrew," she screamed, as the beast got nearer. It was almost to her, its mouth wide open in anticipation. I got to her first, though I don't know how. It's jaws were completely unhinged somehow, and it looked ready to swallow us both. I quickly cut its tongue, the only thing before me that looked vulnerable. It reared back, screeching its pain, and I saw my chance. Before it could react, I jumped forward and plunged the sword into its chest. It shrieked, shaking wildly from side to side. I held onto the sword, barely, and finally it slipped out from its chest and I was thrown onto the street.

"Andrew!" I heard Aya call my name faintly, but the sweet embrace of darkness called for me also. And I couldn't ignore it.

Where the hell am I, I wondered as I sat up. I shook my head, trying to clear the stars from my vision. At least nothing was broken, I mused, standing up shakily. I was in a meadow of some kind, complete with flowers and butterflies and sunlight. All that good stuff.

Be strong…

What? I looked around but there was no one there. I scratched my head in confusion before everything suddenly came together. I must be in Dreamworld again, I supposed, looking around.

You are strong… Don't ever forget that…

Yeah, I already know that. If I wasn't strong, that monster would have mopped the floor with me. Well, actually, it did mop the floor with me, but I wouldn't have killed it.

You are not weak… Weakness is only in the mind… A person is only weak when they think they are…

Yeah…okay… Now how about some questions of my own? The first being, who the hell are you?

There will be times when you think you're weak…

The sky suddenly went dark, the sun blocked by thick, dark clouds. Lightning struck, followed by the inevitable thunder. Without warning, the sky parted and rain began to fall, heavy and unhindered.

There will be times when you want to give up…

The flowers and grass decayed and died right before my eyes, and what sprouted up from the ground as a result wasn't something I saw a kindly old grandmother watering everyday. Monsters, former experiments, were clawing their way from the ground. Each one's flesh rotted or exposed or bloody. Each one oblivious to their past, trying to find a way to live in what they saw as a new world. Each one struggling to survive, even if it meant killing. Each one reminded me of myself, minus the ugly.

There will be times when the odds seem overwhelmingly against you…

More were sprouting up all around me, hundreds turned to thousands, which turned to ten thousands, and so on. In the distance, as far as I could see, I saw the creatures. And they were all headed toward the center, i.e.: me.

But don't ever forget, that you are strong… Don't ever forget that weakness is only in the mind… Andrew…

My eyes snapped open and I found myself staring at the ceiling of my room. The light was off, thankfully, and the room was dimly lit with candles. I turned my head to find Clara there, wringing water out of a rag.

"How do you feel?" she asked in that soft voice of hers.

"I feel like I'mat a séance," I joked hoarsely, trying to get up. Pain lanced through my sides and head, and I lay back down with a weak, "Ouch."

"You shouldn't try to get up," the brunette suggested, resting the rag on my head. "A few of your ribs are broken. And I think you have a minor concussion."

"Now you tell me…" I sighed. After a few moments of silence, I asked, "Is Aya alright?"

She hesitated a moment before removing the rag and rinsing it off. "Yes, and no. She wasn't hurt but…"

"But what…" I asked, turning my head to look at her.

"She believes it's her fault that you were hurt so badly," Clara explained, washing the cuts on my chest and stomach. "She thinks it's because she couldn't protect herself."

I went back to looking at the ceiling, thinking as she wrapped bandages around my chest and stomach.

"Where is she right now?" I asked when she finished bandaging me up.

"She's in the exercise room, training," the brunette responded sadly. "Training way too hard to try and make it up to herself and to you." With that, she walked out, throwing behind her, "Armour will be up here shortly to fix you up. Until then, stay here, okay?"

I nodded and she left, closing the door behind her. I sat up, ignoring the pain that raced up and down my ribs. At least I already had on pants, I thought standing up. Putting on pants with broken ribs wouldn't have been fun.

I limped to the door, briefly wondering when I had hurt my leg. Probably when I was thrown to the ground for the third time, right before I fell unconscious. I walked out into the hall, stopping and leaning against the wall. I had to wait for the hall to stop spinning around.

Why are you doing this? I asked myself as I limped down the hall. You should be in bed, yet you're going to soothe someone who isn't even injured. I shrugged. No use trying to figure it out now. I was doing a lot of things lately that didn't make sense to me.

I found the exercise room and walked in, finding Aya in the middle of the room doing squats. Her back was turned, but with all the mirrors in the room she saw me easily. She stood up, wiping the sweat from her face, before walking to me.

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitatingly eyeing my bandages.

"I'm fine," I lied, sitting down on the padded floor. "Just a little tired…"

She sat down also, still staring at me in that open way. Finally, she looked away, saying, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked, already knowing.

"It's my fault that you got hurt," she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I couldn't protect myself."

"Look, it may be your fault that I'm hurt," I acknowledged. Her face fell, but I continued on, "but that was my choice. It was my choice to protect you. If I didn't protect you, you would have been dead. Instead, I'm just injured. Injuries heal over time, but death…"

"But you could've died," she said, her head rising and her eyes blazing. "You could have died and it would have been all my fault!" Hervoicefell to a whisper."All because I'm…weak…"

"Weakness," I began, remembering my dream. "Weakness is only in the mind. If you believe you're weak, then you will be weak. But, if you believe in your strength, then nothing will be able to stand up to you."

"Really?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Sure," I said, standing up. "If I thought I wouldn't make it to this room because my ribs were broken, then I probably would have collapsed before I even got to the hall."

She smiled and stood up, hugging me gently before I could even react. "Thank you," she murmured. "For everything…"

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the moment and she withdrew. I looked to the door to find Armour there, tapping his foot impatiently.

"I thought Clara told you to stay in bed," he snapped. "You can't go parading around with broken ribs and a concussion, not to mention a broken leg."

"I thought a nice, brisk walk would do me good," I joked, shrugging. "Who knew moving when you had broken bones wasn't a good idea?"

"Get over here so I can give you these nanomachines," he commanded. "Hurry up, I don't have all day."

With an amused glance back toward Aya, I hobbled over to Armour. Without warning, he grabbed my arm and stuck a needle in it.

"Geez, what the hell!" I yanked my arm back. "What was that!"

"The nanomachines, what do you think?" he said irritably. "They should fix you right up."

"What the hell are nanomachines anyway?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"They're microscopic machines that, when inserted into the bloodstream, go right to the source of the problem and fix it." He shrugged. "It's a household item now, nothing special."

I felt a tingling sensation in my side and in my ankle. "What happens when they complete their objective?" I asked, fidgeting.

"They dissolve into harmless material that is passed through the system within the next day," Armour explained. "No fuss, no muss."

"So then, people don't die often, do they?" I asked as I felt the pain fading away. "If these nanomachines fix them?"

He shook his head. "The nanomachines can't fix fatal wounds," he said. "They're only equipped to fix broken bones, shallow gashes, things of that sort. Something fatal, such as a bullet or stab wound to the organs would take too many nanomachines to mend."

"Then just put more nanomachines in," I suggested, removing the bandages from my torso. I didn't need them anymore. "Problem solved."

"Not really," the man replied. "Injecting too many nanomachines would result in a war within the body with the white blood cells. You see, when you inject that small amount, the nanomachines go directly toward the wound, easily destroying any of the white blood cells that try to attack them. The number they kill is miniscule compared to the amount that travels throughout the body, so there's no problem. If we put too many in the bloodstream, the nanomachines will kill a large amount of white blood cells in retaliation to attack, and that can make the person's immune system very weak. They'll be susceptible to any kind of viruses and germs that travel through the air."

"But being sick is preferable to being dead, right?" I pointed out.

"The patient usually dies anyway after a few hours," he said. "Too many bacteria and germs and viruses attacking the system." He suddenly grinned. "But this science lesson is over. You should get some rest." With that, he walked out.

"He's smart, but a little on the eccentric side," I said, turning to Aya.

"He used to work for the Shin-Ra Corporation," Aya said, walking into the hall. As I followed, she said, "I bet that'd make anyone a little eccentric."

"He worked for Shin-Ra?" I asked, curious. "Why is he here then?"

Aya shrugged. "He quit there and somehow found us. Said something about wanting to help us."

"And no one found that a little suspicious?" I was a little amazed that they had been so lenient.

"Well, Vulcan used to work for them too," she said, as she began leading me back to my room. "As a security guard. But he started making a ruckus about their illegal activities and killings, so they burned down his house. They thought he was in there, and they hoped to silence him. Turns out, only his wife and daughter were in the house at the time." She sighed. "I guess we just assumed that something similar had happened to Armour, so we took him in."

We had reached my room, and I was grateful. I had a lot of things to mull over, and I needed some peace and quiet. "Thanks for walking me to my room," I said, grinning wryly. "You're such a gentlewoman."

She smiled back. "Thank you for saving my life," she replied. "You're such a hero."

She walked away, leaving me in front of my door. I shook my head, and opened the door, shutting it behind me. As I flopped down onto the bed, I thought about her last words. 'You're such a hero' I laughed to myself, before falling asleep. It was a pretty ridiculous thing to say.