Nightmare

Chapter Six

Written by: Sadako Kurosawa

Disclaimer: Please don't sue me, I'm writing this entirely for fun.

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update. My mind just died and didn't want to write. I'm going to try to break out of this stage, but I might fail. XD Also, I did change my username.

Also, know that this is an Advent Children A/U now. And my writing's kind of strained right now, I know. So I apologize.

Thanks for all the reviews, though!

"Are you going to fight… Him?" Marlene questioned quietly, not looking at the tall silver-haired man whom was still holding on to her. "Cloud?"

They were walking at a much slower pace now… Ten minutes had already passed; though it seemed to have been a lot longer of a time for the young girl. She didn't want Cloud to get hurt from a fight. Or Yazoo, at that matter. Although he certainly wasn't the favorite person she had ever met, she still didn't want him to be harmed.

Yazoo didn't answer her directly, but looked at her out of the corner of his eye, looking quite tranquil. Marlene simply stared at him mournfully, a tiny frown on her curved face.

They continued to walk, their footsteps echoing throughout the grave silence. With every step she took, Marlene grew paler and paler, looking absolutely grotesque after a while. Her head was beginning to throb from a horrible headache, and she kept closing her eyes and putting her left hand on her broad forehead, moaning every so often.

However, Yazoo took no notice, going on at the same pace, as she began to go slower and slower. Finally, she collapsed, letting out a small cry.

Hearing this, he stopped, and looked back upon her frail body. With a small sigh, he strolled back over to her, kneeling beside her. Tilting his head to the side a bit, his long silver hair falling gently over his shoulder, he made sure she had no injuries from her fall. When he noticed none, he removed the glove from his right hand, and placed in on her forehead.

"You're quite hot," He said to her in a mumble, face emotionless. "I didn't think one could become sick so quickly… I suppose you can't be acting such a thing."

Marlene didn't reply, her breath coming out in small gasps, her eyes closed completely. Yazoo removed his hand, placed it on his chin, and gazed up at the murky sky, wondering about what he should do.

"Kadaj won't like this," He said at last, putting his glove back on, grabbing the little girl under the armpits, and lifting her up, "But I shall go through that challenge when it comes. Besides, the Master will want to make sure that this child is in the best of health…"

Holding her, he stood up, and leaned her against his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her completely. Marlene didn't move through the entire process.

He looked at her face, which was glistening with a thick layer of sweat. Then, he began to amble on to the town, noticing, bitterly, that the wind was beginning to pick up, and the clouds above them were growing darker.

As he went along, Yazoo felt something big was coming, and it wasn't just going to be a storm.

As he reached the main 'living' part of Midgar, it was raining heavily. Every time a drop landed on the bare skin on his face, it burned softly, showing that there was still some pollution in the air of Midgar, even after two years of no activity.

Yazoo pulled Marlene as close as he could to him, attempting to shield her from the painful rain. She was still unmoving, despite everything.

There were still a few people outside, mostly under lame porches they had built themselves with the materials they had had around them.

Many looked at him with gigantic eyes, knowing he looked very similar to someone they used to see in the news all the time. However, Yazoo simply ignored their intense stares, looking downwards, at the ground.

After wandering about for a few minutes, he was unable to locate what he was searching for—a doctor's office of some sort.

Not willing to ask any citizen where it was, he went over every inch of the area again, knowing there had to be an office somewhere around.

He checked every single doorway, looking for signs. Eventually, he discovered a door with a faded black sign, which said, in horrible pink text, 'Doctor's Of ice'. The second 'F' was nowhere to be seen.

Yazoo held onto Marlene with one arm; and used his other to knock on the wooden door a couple times. He waited for a few moments, before letting himself in the unlocked door.

The room only had a few lamps to light it, but he could see well enough. To the left of the door, there were a few ratty, padded chairs, which he laid Marlene across, before exploring the little room.

It made him feel a bit nostalgic. Vials and syringes were everywhere, and though it wasn't clean, the room was full of an earthy white color.

"How may I help… Y-you?" Came a voice from a room deeper into the building, suddenly sounding surprised and fearful when his eyes landed on Yazoo.

Yazoo turned to the man, who was blinking madly at him. He looked young, probably no older than twenty-five.

"Are you… Sephiroth…?" He asked, making sure he kept his distance. Yazoo didn't reply, and instead pointed to Marlene, not saying a word.

The doctor followed his finger, and saw the little girl lying on the chairs. He then practically tiptoed over to her, keeping one eye on his strange visitor the entire time.

He looked her over, and then, sounding like he wished he wasn't where he was, he said,

"It's nothing to worry about. Just a simpleAlbeit, ferocioussickness, brought about by extreme stress. She'll be feeling better in a few days, most likely."

Yazoo was silent for a moment. Then, with a furtive glint in his eye, he looked directly at the doctor.

"I shall let her stay here, to make sure it doesn't get worse." He stated without an ounce of emotion. "I will accompany her, however, to make sure nothing happens to her while she's under your care."

"That's fine, S-Sir," The doctor replied, staring at the floor in defeat and intense worry. "I w-will need to know some information about her and you first, just so you know."

Yazoo nodded; knowing he wasn't going to give away any true information. The other sighed in slight relief, glad that the great general of days past wasn't angry. Following this, he took a notepad out of a pocket in his lab coat, and took a pencil out of the opposite one.

"Okay… First, I need to know your name."

"Sephiroth." Yazoo answered wryly, sounding—and looking—incredibly bored. The doctor wrote this down rather shakily.

"And hers?"

"Aino," He said after a moment, letting the first name he thought of come out.

"Are you her father?"

"…Yes."

The other paused for a moment, and looked at both Yazoo and Marlene, comparing them.

"Not much of a family resemblance, huh?" He said, with a nervous chuckle. Yazoo did nothing in response, so the doctor continued.

"Any past medical problems?"

"Not that I know of."

"Good… And that's all the information I needed to know." And so, their conversation was over, though Yazoo had a suspicion that he ended the questioning early. However, he didn't actually care, as long as the girl recovered soon under this one's care.

"…Are you going to stay with her until she recovers?" The doctor questioned quietly, probably hoping he wasn't.

Yazoo simply walked over to a chair and sat down, in a position that insinuated a long wait. He knew that Kadaj wouldn't like his leaving Marlene there alone… Or at all, but that would be something he would have to deal with later.

The caretaker stared at him for a moment after he saw this movement, biting down on his lower lip absentmindedly, his eyes downcast.

"Well… Since you'll be here for a while then, I'll go to the store now and get some beverages and snacks." He then said, not looking him directly in the eyes. Then, keeping one eye on Yazoo, he quickly left the building. Yazoo watched him solemnly, hoping that he would come back soon to take care of the girl. Though he figured that there was a chance that he had simply left for good. But it didn't matter. As long as she had shelter, he was sure she would recover.

The Master needed her in good health, as far as he knew anyway, so it would be best if he waited.

So Yazoo waited, making absolutely no noise, his body slowly beginning to droop from boredom. He soon found himself counting the individual black dots on the cold hard floor. He knew now that the doctor had deserted them—it had taken far too long for him to return just with drinks and such.

However, as he was thinking this, he heard a loud door slam to his side. So, he had been wrong, surprisingly. He glanced upwards slowly, but when he saw a different pair of eyes looking at his instead of the doctor's, he immediately jumped upwards out of the chair, getting ready for a fight he was sure would come.

The newcomer was staring at him with great hate, his normally spiky blonde hair dripping gigantic drops of rain.

Behind him, was the doctor, attempting to look as small as possible. Fortunately for him, though, Yazoo's attention was definitely not focused on him.

"I've finally found you…" Cloud Strife said, in a voice hardly above a whisper.

End Chapter Six